Agency Life
by AgentLifestyle
Summary: First Story. Please read 1st chapter for story summary
1. Chapter 1

Agency Life

*I own no part of this series*

This will be a story of day to day life in the agency and the life of those in it, main focus will be Jose and Henrietta. This is my first story, and forgive me for this short opening chapter but I'm uploading this first so I know everything is uploading properly.

I hope you enjoy!


	2. Developing Love

Chapter 2: Developing Love.

The weather was rather hot out today, Jose couldn't decide on what to wear for his day out with Henrietta, he knew she wouldn't care but he always tried to look

professional, something both his time in the agency and his military background taught him to do. The summer heat was really making its presence known, with its

humid air and irregularly high temperatures.

As he stood in his dorm room gazing into his closet full of clothes he decided to wear khaki pants, a navy blue polo and some brown chukka boots.

Now onto his sidearm for the day, Jose often opted for his FN Five-seveN but it would be hard to conceal it effectively due to only wearing a polo shirt,

he glanced over to his Beretta 92 compact that he obtained shortly after joining the Agency, but he passed on that as well. He then remembered his Sig P239 he

purchased that was the same model as Henriettas, and since they were spending time together today he decided to carry it today along with 2 spare mags, just in

case if things got crazy wherever they found themselves today.

Jose glanced down at his watch, 10:37 it said, he remembered telling her to be ready by 12. Since Jose was ready a little early, he decided to relax and read up

on some news on his laptop in his dorm for a bit, something he rarely found himself able to do within the recent months. 11:50 came up on Jose's watch, so he

decided to make his way to the girls' dorm to get Henrietta.

Jose was often calm and collected when dealing with her, but today he was almost anxious to be in her presence, that of which he has started taking mental

note of recently. It is almost as if he was wanting to impress her by looking his best and buying her the best gifts he could think of. He knew she would be satisfied

with however he looked or whatever he bought her, but he still craved the appreciation and satisfaction of her. Just as she often did from him.

As he made his way down the halls of the Agency he passed Jean on the way, Jean said to him "Today is you first day off in a while brother, don't you want

to take time to yourself for some rest and recovery?" Jose replied back with "I am taking time for some rest and recovery, but I'm doing so with Henrietta, she

deserves a fun and relaxed day just as I do." Jean replied with "whatever you say…" and continued on his way.

As Jose continued walking, he approached the door to their dorm. He felt nervous knocking on it, since Henrietta wasn't the only one in the room. He didn't

want to disturb the other girls. He gently knocked on it and said "Henrietta are you ready?" after a moment of standing there Triela answered and opened the door.

"Hi Jose" she said and greeted him with her smile. "Hi Triela" Jose said as he returned the smile. "is Henrietta busy?" he asked her. Triela replied "no, she's just doing

some final touch ups to her hair, she's so excited to be going out with you today, you make her day you know?" Jose slightly blushed and answered her with "yeah, I

can see that." "Come in, have a seat" Triela offered, "okay" said Jose as he made his way in the dorm.

He sat down at their center room table and Triela sat across from him "so, what's on the agenda today for you two?" she asked. Jose responded with "I'm not

exactly sure yet, with it being so hot out I thought maybe going to get her some ice cream to cool off a bit." "Aw! That's the perfect blend of simple, fun, and cute. I

can't wait to see how happy and joyful she is once you two return. She has talked about this all last night" Triela said. "Is that so?" Jose asked once again feeling a

slight blush appear. Triela explained "Yes of course! You are her world, and I've began to notice something, which I'd say it's a good thing" "What have you noticed?"

questioned Jose. Triela explained once more "Henrietta loves you and all, but it's not "sibling" love. It's romantic love, I know this because when I ask her about you

she always says great things, but she also questions me as to what do I think your reactions would be if she hugged you, held your hand. She even mentioned how

much she'd love a kiss on the head. Things that not siblings would do, but couples in love would do.

She should be ready any moment, so that's all I'm going to say about it for now, I would just play it cool and let it develop, she really needs a lover in her

life. Deep down she is still that caring girl, as you probably already know." "Okay" was all Jose could get out before Henrietta turned the corner ready to begin their

day.

"Ready to go?" Jose asked her. "Of course!" Henrietta exclaimed. The two of them exited the dorm as Jose glanced back to Triela who then pointed at both him

and Henrietta and made a heart symbol with her hands, signifying them being an adorable pair. Jose then blushed as he followed Henrietta out the door.

"You look nice today." Jose said as he looked at her while they were walking down the hall. She was wearing a white short sleeve button up with a skirt.

"Thank you! I always try to look my very best for you." Henrietta said. "What would you like to do today?" Jose questioned Henrietta. "I don't care, just as long as we

are together." She replied. "Okay, how about some ice cream?" he offered, thinking about how Triela agreed to it being a great idea. "Of course! Especially with it

being as hot as it is outside!" Henrietta exclaimed.

Her excitement warmed Jose's heart, he was never the best at pleasing people in his life, but knowing the joy he brought her meant the world to him. As they

made their way out, Jose began to think and reflect on his own life as he would occasionally glance at Henrietta as they walked. Originally, Henrietta needed him

dearly, and wanted him by her side at all times, but now it was as if the tables had turned, he needed her. Jose was starting to feel signs of depression when he

wasn't around her, her presence would make those emotions go away, he knew a part of her love for him was because of her conditioning, but Jose always tried to

never condition her if possible. Could her love for him be from her heart and not the conditioning? Could he be developing a love for her?

"Jose? Are you okay? Is something troubling you?" asked Henrietta. Jose smiled and replied "No, I'm okay, just debating on what kind of ice cream I'm

wanting is all."

Jose wondered what her reaction would be if he discussed his signs of depression with her, and his slight developing feelings for her. Life in the Agency was

very lonely, busy, and often dangerous. But with Henrietta by his side, and Jose by her side, they may can find peace in the midst of their tragic line of work.

Agents note: Thank you for reading! I'm still working on formatting the text, such as paragraph placement and such, so please bear with me haha! Much, Much more of this to come. Thank you again for reading! Another chapter is coming right away!


	3. Vivi la Vita

Chapter 3: Vivi la vita (live life)

As Jose and Henrietta made their way to his car, he noticed how even more excited she got. When she gleefully sat down in the passenger seat, Jose felt warmth in his heart, a feeling only she could seem to make him have. Jose then himself sat down in the driver seat, started the car, and they took off.

While riding down the streets near the agency HQ he glanced over and seen how Henrietta was grinning ear to ear. He smiled himself, he felt honored to know that he could bring her joy and happiness. Especially when the memories of her past before her conditioning were wiped clean, both bad, and good. He was glad to give her good memories, she deserved all of the attention and happiness he could offer, and he was determined to give that to her.

"Henrietta? Did you sleep well last night?" asked Jose, because he knew he sure didn't. "Yes! I went to bed way earlier than usual because Triela told me if I did, our time together would get here a lot faster!" Henrietta exclaimed. Jose blushed "Yes, I went to bed early myself in hopes for the same thing, it worked!" Jose said, then chuckled to himself as he thought of his sleepless night prior to today.

They then arrived to the local ice cream shop. Jose and Henrietta climbed out of the car and approached the stand. Before they reached it Jose asked Henrietta "What flavor would you like? So I know what to tell them when we order" "I would like whatever flavor you get Jose, you always know what is best" she said. Jose simply replied "okay, sounds good."

This was the cyborg talking to him, not the grinning girl he noticed minutes' prior, he needs to work with her to be open with him with her own opinions, such as in this case, ice cream flavors. He then noticed the weight of the Sig on his side, having to bring a firearm everywhere he went, spending time with an innocent girl who was conditioned to be an assassin, this is the life he was dealt. He glanced at those around him and was grateful they could live regularly. Just as Henrietta was adjusting, so was he. He took mental note on wanting her to express her opinions to him, he would work on this later, maybe he could have Triela assist him in having Henrietta express herself, the idea seemed great but for now, he would roll with it.

"What flavor would you like sir?" the shop employee asked Jose. "Two ice creams, both with Mint and chocolate chips please" Jose stated. Henrietta was back to smiling ear to ear, Jose paid the gentleman the total for the desserts and wished him a nice day. Jose then passed Henrietta her ice cream, and since there was no shady area nearby for them to enjoy their sweets, Jose recommended that they eat their sweets in his car with the air conditioning on so it wouldn't be so hot.

As they climbed in the car, Henrietta started on her ice cream, at a much quicker pace than Jose. "Careful Henrietta, you'll get brain freeze" Jose warned. "Yes sir" was Henrietta's response. As they enjoyed their sweets, Jose finished his a little quicker than Henrietta did, so he just sat in silence, not wanting to interrupt her. He admired how careful he was with her desert, not wanting to get it on her white shirt, not wanting to get it on her hands as she made sure to not let any drip down the sides of the cone. Jose smiled to himself, this is adorable he thought.

When Henrietta finished her ice cream, her and Jose decided to talk for a bit before heading back to the Agency for the evening. Even though they had the day off, Henrietta had some literature classes to attend and Jose had some paperwork to do in his dorm.

Did you enjoy your ice cream? Jose asked her. "Yes, of course!" she replied. Jose asked her, "Henrietta? How are things when we aren't together?" She replied with "Well, I love our time together, but it's not bad, we all have been getting along great, I often stay up late talking to Triela about stuff" Jose questioned her by asking "what kind of stuff?" She replied with "Just stuff" and giggled while blushing. Jose knew what "stuff" she was referring to because he remembered what Triela told him. "How are things for you Jose? When we aren't together." she asked him, "Things are quite boring in all honesty. Paperwork, and things like that." he replied. "Oh" she said. "Yeah, it's pretty dull" Jose said with a slight laugh. "What would you like to do on our next day off Henrietta?" he asked. "I'm not sure." She responded. Jose responded with "I know, how about a shopping trip?" "Sounds great!" said Henrietta. "Ok good, now let's make our way back to the Agency" Jose suggested.

When they returned to the agency Jose and Henrietta got out of the car and started to make their way inside. After they got past the check-in area, they proceeded down the hall to the girl's dorms, Jose didn't want her to be late for her class.

Once they got back, Henrietta opened the door and she stepped inside and was greeted by Triela. "Hello Henrietta! Hey Jose! Welcome back." Triela said. "Hello!" both of them replied. "Did you have a good trip?" asked Triela. "Of course" replied Henrietta. "Henrietta, I have to go back to my dorm to finish up an evidence report, I'm so glad we got to spend time together today, if you need me you know where to find me and if I'm not in my dorm, use the dorms phone to call me." Jose stated and followed it with a smile. That smile and assurance that he was always by her side meant the world to her, it put her mind at ease. "Okay, thank you Jose, you're the best!" she replied. Then Jose did something unexpected, that neither Henrietta or Triela seen coming. Jose walked up and gave Henrietta the biggest, and warmest hug he could offer, after the hug he ruffled her hair gently with his hand. Henrietta stood speechless and her face was blushed solid red. Triela just stood grinning ear to ear, she thought as to how she would never hear the end of this tonight from Henrietta. Jose smiled and went on his way to his dorm, he had work to do.

Jose entered his dorm, it was nice and quiet, the way he preferred. This was like his getaway from the busy world. He made his way over to the candle he kept in his room and lit it, and then poured himself a glass of warm tea he had made the night prior. He then made his way to his desk and sat down and turned on his laptop and began to write up the report.

Jose hated writing up these reports, they bored him, but he knew this was all a part of his job so he continued on and gave it his best effort like he always did, although according to Jean, his efforts were never good enough, but Jose didn't let his opinion bother him. After getting a good bit of it completed, Jose decided to take a break.

He wondered how Henrietta's class was going. It being a Sunday evening meant they were probably just going over what they will be learning this week, Hillshire was helping out to with the class tonight. "Better him than me" Jose thought to himself. Jose then pulled up the week's weather predictions. "Hot, hot, and hotter" Jose thought. He disliked the hot weather, sure the flowers and trees were pretty, but having to dress nice for work meant burning up if it was hot out. Jose then got back to writing his report, a little while longer and he was finished with it. He then emailed the report to Jean so he could get it printed and go over it.

Jose looked at his clock, 7:45 it read. He wondered if Henrietta had had her dinner yet. He called the dorms phone and Triela answered. "Hey Triela, it's Jose, could you put Henrietta on the line for me?" Jose said. "Yes, one moment" replied Triela. Then suddenly Jose heard the warm voice that brought joy to him. "Hey Jose" Henrietta answered. "Hello Henrietta, have you went to the chow hall and got your dinner yet?" Jose asked. "No, not yet, Rico, Triela, and I were going to go at the same time and have dinner together. Triela said they're serving stromboli tonight with tea." said Henrietta. "Mind if I join you guys? The handlers had their dinner while I was working on this report and I'm starving." asked Jose. "Of course! We'd be glad to have you join us" replied Henrietta. "Okay great, I'll meet you guys in the chow hall, see you soon" Jose said as he hanged up.

Jose blew out his candle, finished his tea and then headed to the chow hall. Once he reached the chow hall, he noticed he was a few minutes behind because they were all already eating. Jose was thankful to see that there was an empty seat beside Henrietta. He quickly grabbed a plate and got his stromboli and then he noticed they put out fresh cannolis on the dessert bar, so in order for him to make up for him being late he grabbed a cannoli for himself and one for each one of the girls. Jose then made his way over and took his seat beside Henrietta and passed out a cannoli to each of the girls. They all greeted him upon his arrival and thanked him for the cannolis he brought them.

"Is everyone enjoying their dinner?" Jose asked as he took his first bite of his stromboli. The girls all nodded "yes" and smiled. They then all ate their dinner. Once they finished their dinners and enjoyed their cannolis they brewed up conversation.

Jose just sat back and listened to their discussions, he was interested in how ordinary the girls' topics were. Clothes, shoes, hair products etc. Jose didn't know how to jump in the conversation either, so he just sticked to listening. Triela then yawned and said "well, I'm getting tired" "Me too" stated Rico. "Let's head back to the dorm Rico." Triela said "Okay" said Rico as they stood up from their seats. Henrietta looked at them then she looked at Jose as he made eye contact with her. "You look tired Henrietta, go grab some rest yourself, tomorrows Monday and we have a busy week ahead." Jose told her. "But I don't want to leave you here Jose." she replied. "It's okay, don't worry. We'll see each other tomorrow" Jose reassured her. "Okay, but Jose, may I have a goodnight hug?" Henrietta asked. "Of course" Jose said.

He then embraced the loving brunette, the one who would do anything for him and him not ask twice, the one who was always by his side through every adventure life could throw at him, good or bad. He was her world, just as she was becoming his. When he ended the hug, he took her by both hands and looked into her soft eyes and told her "Sweet dreams, Goodnight, Henrietta." She replied "Goodnight Jose, you have sweet dreams aswell" she gently squeezed his hands, and then let go to go and catch up with the others.

Jose watched her as she turned the corner, he then made his way to his dorm.

As he opened the door to his room, he went to lay down for a moment and ponder about his day. Henrietta seemed to be doing well, she was happy today which put his mind at ease. He began to feel drowsy, so he hopped up and put on some sleep wear.

It was rather warm out so he opted for some gym shorts and a t-shirt, and then cranked on his rooms ceiling fan. He walked over and plugged up his laptop to the charger, and then plugged up his cellphone. He turned the volume up because if Henrietta needed him, he was going to be sure to respond.

As he laid down he thought about those 2 very special moments today, those 2 hugs he and Henrietta shared. How warm she was, and how her warmth warmed his cold heart, she needs him just as much as he needed her. He chuckled at the thought of how bad Jean would freak out if he knew how he felt toward Henrietta, Jean would think he was becoming to dependent of his "cyborg" as Jean always preferred to refer them to as. To Jose, she was Henrietta, a girl.

Jose glanced at his clock, 10:30 it said. Jose had his alarm set for 5:30 am. He liked to get up early and carefully plan out his day before tackling it. He reached over to his night stand and grabbed the sig p239, he press-checked the slide to make sure there was a round chambered, just in case if he were to need it in the night. Once he knew a round was chambered he rolled over and closed his eyes.

"Here's to a new week, goodnight Sunday, hello Monday" Jose thought. He hoped he would get some good rest tonight. He then thought of Henrietta's smile and then he drifted to sleep.

Agent's note: I hope you're enjoying this, a lot more of this to come. Thank you for your time!


	4. Sentire

Chapter 4: Sentire (feel)

Jose woke up, "this is the 3rd time tonight" he thought to himself, he glanced at his clock, hoping it would be a good time to get up and begin getting ready.

Unfortunately, he was rather disappointed, it was only 3:45am. He wondered about his busy week ahead, well, their busy week ahead. What would he and Henrietta encounter?

"Henrietta", that name caused his anxious mind to come to an abrupt halt. "I hope she is resting well." he thought, "I wonder what all she has told Triela." Jose then thought about his evidence report he wrote up, he hoped Jean checked his email and seen he sent it to him, the report was already behind on getting written. He then closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.

*Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep* went Jose's alarm. "Ugh, time to get up I guess" he said to himself. Jose slowly sat up and stretched, he then proceeded to get up and stumble over to his bathroom to begin his morning routine.

Now he needed to figure out what he was going to wear for the day, he opted for some jeans and a black polo along with his brown chukka boot dress shoes. As for his firearm for the day, he decided to go with the Sig again along with the 2 extra mags.

Jose then sat down at his desk and got onto his laptop. He went to check the weather again *85 high, 67 low, mostly sunny* it said, he made sure to grab his Ray Ban sunglasses and hung them from the collar of his shirt so he would have something to shield his eyes from the sun today. He then glanced up at his clock, 6 A.M. "time to start the day" he thought to himself.

Jose made his way to the meeting room. A morning meeting was being held at 6:15 to go over today's schedule with the handlers and their cyborgs. Jose made it to the meeting room just in time for it to start.

The meeting was nothing unusual, the director went over the performance of the teams with in the past week and then asked the handlers how their cyborg was performing in combat along with social everyday life. They also asked about their medical status, if the girls were feeling okay and such. Jose was lucky to respond with how well Henrietta was performing and how healthy she was. He really hoped they would figure out a solution with Claes so that the girls could live a regular lengthy life and not be doomed with their currently short life span. "You're all dismissed" stated the director. Jose quickly got up from his seat, he wished Jean and Hillshire a good day and made his way to the dorm to get Henrietta.

Upon his arrival Jose realized it was only 7:13, he wondered if she'd even be up. He gently knocked on the door, and as usual Triela answered with her big smile and polite greeting, although even her herself was still in her sleep wear. "Hello Triela, sorry for coming at such an early time. Is Henrietta awake?" Jose asked. "She just got up a couple minutes ago, she's in the restroom putting on her makeup and fixing her hair." Triela said. "Okay" said Jose.

Then all of a sudden it was as if a light bulb switched on in his head, this was the perfect opportunity to ask her if Henrietta said anything more about their hugs. "Triela, so how excited was Henrietta last night? After we spent the day together and the hugs?" asked Jose. "Oh boy, she talked my ear off about it last night, then she laid there writing in that journal you gave her until around 2am because I heard her putting it back in its case around that time, we can talk about it for a bit if you don't mind me fixing my hair while we discuss it." Triela said. "I don't mind at all, forgive me for coming at such an early hour." said Jose.

Triela started explaining as she was brushing her hair, "once we returned to the dorm after our dinner last night, thanks again for the cannolis again, she ran into the bathroom and threw on her sleep wear. She then asked me if Hillshire and I had ever hugged before. Which we haven't, he and I are close but we've never crossed that boundary before. So I told her "no, why?" She then told me that you and her hugged again last night after dinner and then held hands for a moment as you wished her a good night. Then after that she told me "Triela, I love him, I love Jose." that was pretty much it because by that time she grabbed her notebook and began writing in it for the rest of the night." "Wow!" was all Jose could say. "So I guess I really do mean that much to her huh?" he said. "Of course, and I think it's a great thing because her love for you isn't because of the conditioning, she chooses to feel this way, be happy Jose." Triela explained. "I'm certainly very thankful for it." he replied.

Henrietta stepped out of the bathroom, she had on another one of her gray skirts, white button up dress shirt with the small red lace style tie she often wore with it and a red headband to match it to keep her hair organized. "Triela it was good to talk to you for a bit, I hope you and Hillshire have a good day. Henrietta are you ready to go?" "Yes Jose" she replied. They then headed out the dorm room and down the hall they went.

As they headed down the hall, Jose informed Henrietta what the plan was today. They were to meet up and aid in the investigation of a local shooting that happened overnight. As they checked out at the entrance, they made their way to Jose's car.

Jose and Henrietta arrived on the scene. A few local authorities were there already collecting evidence. Instead of getting involved directly, Jose decided to watch and listen to see what the authorities were collecting and discussing. As Jose was doing his part, Henrietta was doing hers, which was watching the surrounding environment for any signs of danger. Jose began to wonder why he and Henrietta were here, was there something he was missing or not aware of? He wasn't sure.

As the day went on, the sun began to grow hot and there was no shade around. Jose grew anxious, so he made his move and started to ask questions. Jose then pulled out his small notebook and began to write down the answers to the questions the authorities provided. "How many rounds were fired? Are there any eye witnesses? Was anyone else harmed other than the shooters primary target? What direction were the rounds fired from? What caliber was the bullet?" Luckily for Jose, the authorities were able to provide confident and precise answers. This would make his report of the scene easy, and it benefited him as well because both the local authorities and the Agency would be on the same base of understanding of the tragic shooting. Jose checked his watch 16:00 (4pm) it read. "It's been a long day, and a hot one at that" he thought to himself. "Henrietta, let's go home"

On the way back to the Agency, Jose began to feel the feeling of hunger creep upon him, he was sure Henrietta was probably hungry as well. "How about an early dinner Henrietta?" Jose suggested. "Absolutely" she replied. "So, what would you like?" he asked her, hoping she would express her opinion and make a suggestion. "I'm fine with whatever you want" she responded. Jose thought back to when they got ice cream yesterday, she wouldn't make her own suggestion. Jose had to give her a gentle social push. "What if I'm fine with whatever you want." he said to her. She didn't know exactly what to say or how to react to his response, Jose realized this, so he gave her a little self-assurance so she knew that it was okay for her to make the decision. "It's okay Henrietta, I want you to make the decision for dinner tonight." he said, and followed it with that smile that always worked on her. "How about some soup?" Henrietta asked, with a very shy tone of voice. "Of course, sounds great" replied Jose. Jose then made a turn and they made their way to a local restaurant.

The restaurant was rather casual; Jose didn't mind but he could tell Henrietta felt a little out of place. "It's okay" he whispered to her. "Table for 2 please." he told the waitress. Once they were seated the both ordered tea to drink and went ahead and ordered their soup as well. Jose began to think back to the time when he took Henrietta out for dinner and she physically restrained the waiter because she believed he was going to harm Jose, when in reality he was just gathering up silverware. As he was in his thoughts their food arrived. "That was quick" Jose thought to himself. They both were hungry from not getting to have lunch today, so they wasted no time enjoying their meal and tea. Shortly after, they went about their way back to the agency.

On the way back to the Agency, Jose glanced over at Henrietta, and to his surprise, she was sound asleep in the passenger seat. He would occasionally look over at her when he had the chance, he admired her innocent and relaxed facial expression as she slept. He turned off the gentle music he had playing quietly on his radio and drove a little carefully so he wouldn't wake her as they were almost to their "home".

Once Jose got parked, he gently tapped Henrietta on the shoulder. "We're back" he told her softly, as he climbed out of his seat and walked over to open the door for her. They then made their way to the check in entrance to their HQ.

After checking in, Jose decided to walk Henrietta back to her room. Henrietta was just a few steps ahead, so she knocked first, and they both were soon greeted by Triela's friendly greeting. "Hello you two!" Triela said, as Jose and Henrietta returned the greeting. As Henrietta walked inside she turned around to face Jose, he could clearly see the drowsiness in her eyes. "Has she not been sleeping well?" Jose thought, he could get the answer from Triela. Jose then told Henrietta, "Go ahead and go put your sleep wear on if you'd like, I'll wait until you get back." "Yes sir" she responded. As she opened her dresser and pulled out a pink long sleeve shirt and pink pajama pants she made her way to the dorm restroom to change. As soon as the door shut, Jose immediately asked Triela "Has she been sleeping okay?" Triela gave a calm reply of "Yes she has, although she told me last night she was too happy to sleep. I think it was because of the 2 hugs you gave her yesterday. She was also up a little later than usual because she was writing in that journal you got her, probably writing about the day she got to spend with you. Jose responded with "I see, I'll make sure to get her to promise me to get good night's sleep tonight."

Just then Henrietta reappeared into the dorm's main room. Jose thought she looked adorable in her soft pink pajamas, he remembered when he bought those for her. "You look tired" Jose said to her. "Yes, it seems I am a little sleepier than usual this evening" she replied. "I'm pretty tired myself" Jose said, "How about this, let's make a deal, if you go to bed a little earlier tonight, I'll do the same, that way neither of us are tired in the morning. Deal?" Jose said. Henrietta blushed a little and responded with "Deal Jose!" Jose then said to her "Pinky promise?" Henrietta then responded with "Of course" then grinned at him with that smile Jose loved so much. "Good, goodnight Henrietta, sleep good" Jose said to her. "Goodnight Jose you do the same." she said. Jose then turned and headed for the door, as soon as he did he heard footsteps running up to him, it was Henrietta wanting her hug. He then quickly turned to face her, and then opened his arms as she ran into his arms. He then hugged her, this time he didn't let go, he wanted her to let go first. They hugged for a few moments Jose caught a glace of Triela sitting by her bed, she gave him a thumbs up. Henrietta then let go, Jose did the same. "I must get to bed so I can fulfill my promise for a goodnights sleep" she said to him with a smile. "You're exactly right" he responded. Jose then made his way to his dorm.

Once Jose got to his dorm, he opened his door and walked in. Silence filled his ears, and it was rather dark in there too. Jose then made his way over to his lamp and switched it on. Once his lamp was on and his eyes got adjusted to its sudden brightness. Jose made his way over and put on some pajamas. As he opened his dresser he seen a pair of blue pajamas, he remembered buying these at the same time he bought Henriettas, so he chose to put them on because she was wearing hers. Jose then poured a glass of tea and downed it almost as fast as he poured it. He made his way over to the lamp and cut it off. Once he was in his bed, he fell asleep almost immediately.

Agents note: First and foremost, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the developing plot, along with the story itself so far. Much more of this to come.


	5. Riposo

Chapter 5: Riposo (Rest)

Henrietta and Jose made some final adjustments to their gear before moving inside of the terrorist held building. They were going to bring them down, they had the "green light" from the upper chain of command. Now all that was left was to clean up the undesirables cowering away inside.

Jose and Henrietta were properly dressed for the occasion, Jose was wearing a very light blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up with tactical khaki pants and a gray plate carrier vest. Henrietta had on a black long sleeve shirt tucked in to her tactical khaki pants and was sporting a gray plate carrier vest as well. Jose had his FN Five-seveN pistol ready, and his sig p239 like Henrietta's attatched to the back of his waist band in case if something happened to his Five-seveN. Henrietta had her FN P90 and her sig p239 aswell.

Jose and Henrietta was to infiltrate using a backdoor to the structure, Triela and Hillshire were to enter from the top floor windows and work their way down, Rico and Jean were providing over watch on the main entrance to make sure not one hostile escaped.

Jose glanced up to the pretty full moon tonight before they started because he knew it might could be his last time seeing it if things went wrong. He then said calmly to Henrietta, "Let's do this." And they made their way inside.

They wanted their presence to be unknown for as long as possible, so they opted to kill the hostiles that they could silently at first. Henrietta spotted her first victim, she smoothly approached him from behind and before he knew anything of her being there it was too late for him. She put the palm of her hand over his mouth, and slit his throat. Some of her victim's blood got on her gloves, she usually tried to keep clean, but tonight she didn't care, she was in her "wet work" gear and she was fully focused on the objective. Jose then spotted another hostile as well patrolling alone, and just like Henrietta, he made short work of them. There was an estimated amount of 20 hostiles in the building, so they had many more to go, when things got loud, Triela and Hillshire would make their grand entrance.

Henrietta and Jose managed to be able to pick off around 10 or so of the hostiles. So only half to go. As they made their way to the basement they stumbled upon a room that was full of the hostiles plans. Jose almost immediately pulled out his phone and began getting photographs of the information. He wanted it now instead of after the raid because local authorities would take it into their custody after cleaning up the scene. The information contained plans such as the bombing of a local train station, the robbing of a bank to support finances for the group and to pay for extra help, the kidnapping of a local mayor, the theft of items in the local art gallery that could be sold overseas, and at last, the burning of a local church.

Just then Jose realized something, he seen the word "cyborgs" on a file, has their secretive project been compromised? It seemed that way, "Henrietta, I want you to make sure no one leaves here tonight" Jose told her, because if the terrorists are dead, they can't spread any information, ever. He took the file paper and folded it up and put it into one of his pants pockets, he didn't even want the local authorities to get their hands on this. Jose searched for any more information regarding the girls' existence. He did so for not only the protection of the secret, but for the safety of the girls, luckily he wasn't finding any more information in regards of them.

Just then Jose heard a very loud and sudden *bang* he looked over to Henrietta and seen that she shot an individual who was coming down the hall to where they were getting information from. Suddenly an alarm ringed within the rooms, "It's go time" thought Jose. He contacted Hillshire "We've been compromised, go hot" Jose said. He then heard Hillshire confidently respond with "Solid copy, beginning our engagement." Things were about to get real, quickly that was, luckily only 10 or so hostiles remained.

Jose and Henrietta then began to carefully and swiftly make their way upstairs to eliminate any other hostiles and to help out Triela and Hillshire. Along their way up they managed to score 3 terrorists. Jose figured it would only be a matter of time before Hillshire and Triela had the final few cleaned up. They then made their way down the hall of the 3rd floor. "Blue!" Jose yelled, followed by a "Sky!" from Hillshire. This was said to identify teammates in a tactical situation and to also show everything was all clear. "How many?" Jose asked as he and Henrietta approached Triela and Hillshire. "7" he said "Good" said Jose, meaning they were able to take out all 20 enemies with none escaping.

Triela then walked over to one of the dead bodies and picked up a radio from it. "Take a listen to this" she said as she turned up the volume on it. It was the leader of the group requesting for some armed guards. "The leader must be here!" Henrietta exclaimed. "It seems that way" replied Jose. "Let's go find him" he then said. "Triela and I will check the basement for any kind of secret vaults or rooms" Hillshire volunteered. "Sounds good, Henrietta and I will check this level for any safe rooms as well." said Jose. Just then the radio went silent, he must've realized none of his teammates were left alive, and that he would meet his demise very soon.

Jose and Henrietta started kicking down doors, checking rooms, closets, and bathrooms but no luck. Everywhere they looked there was no sign of the leader. "We can't give up now." stated Jose. After searching a few more offices, lobbies, and storage rooms they stumbled upon an office that appeared to be the C.E.O. office.

Jose gently checked the door handle, "It's locked, Henrietta, work your magic." She smiled and then kicked open the door and they both ran inside. Oddly enough, it was silent. No signs of anyone. Henrietta then heard a very, very faint sniffle come from the small storage room of the office, Jose didn't even hear it. She made a hasty approach to the door and effortlessly yanked it open. Then she seen the prize, the leader. She motioned him to come out from the room and to get on his knees in the middle of the room so Jose could get a clear look at him. To Jose's surprise though, it wasn't just the leader. It was the leader and his family, a wife and 3 kids. The kids' ages appeared to range from 16 to 11. All Jose could hear was the crying of the family, even the father, who was the leader of the terrorist group, and just before Jose could get a word out, *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*. Henrietta shot and killed them all dead on the spot, including the kids.

"Did I do good Jose? I did JUST as you said to do. Make sure there were no survivors." and followed the question with that innocent smile as she looked at him with her soft eyes seeking his approval. "Yes, you did great Henrietta" said Jose. For some reason, he felt tension in his heart as he said that, she only did as she was told to do, but it was unfortunate an innocent family had to get involved.

Suddenly out of nowhere *BAM* Jose heard, as he looked for the source he spotted an individual in the doorway. Before he could fire a second shot, Jose shot and killed the shooter. Before Jose could make heads or tails of the situation, Henrietta screamed "Jose, NO!" and suddenly Jose couldn't help but collapse to the floor. He looked down and realized he was shot just below his vest in the waist. He looked up as Henrietta rushed over to him and sat down and laid his head in her lap and held his hand. "Henrietta…" he said, struggling to get the word out. "I, I'm not ready to die. I haven't been able to give you the life you deserve, I have so much more love to give you." She responded "Love? I've never known what that was, until you showed me. What will I do now…I've failed you." Jose then told her "No, you haven't failed me, do you remember what you said when we took that vacation a few years back if something happened?" "Yes" she responded. He then told her "I don't want to leave this earth with some terrorist taking my life, I want to lose it to you…" he then raised his Five-seveN to her eye "I want you to fulfill that promise" "Yes, Jose" she responded as she pointed her sig p239 at his left temple. At the same time, they pulled their triggers.

Jose then heard his dorm room door open, waking him up. "Jose! Jose is something wrong?" he heard that familiar loving voice say. Jose rolled over in his bed to face her as she was coming in his dorm, he was so thankful it was all a dream. "I'm okay Henrietta, are you alright?" he said, barely being able to contain his composure after that hellish nightmare he just experienced, he felt the urge to just hug her with all of his heart, and he did just that surely she wouldn't mind.

As she came over to him, he sat up from his bed. "Yes I'm fine, I just haven't seen you today and was wondering if you were okay." she said. Jose managed to catch a glimpse of his clock, 10:47am it said. He then realized he forgot to set his alarm last night. As she got within arm's reach of him he pulled her to him and hugged her. As she returned the hug she asked him "Jose? You okay?" That's when the reality finally hit him. He was so thankful that this was his reality rather than that nightmare he woke up from. He went to Hell, and she pulled him out. He began to sniffle gently, and she knew right then that her Jose was under distress.

She remembered all the times that if something was wrong, he'd do everything he could to make it right, and that is what she was going to do for him. She gently let go and laid him down, she then walked over and poured him some tea from the pitcher, and once she brought the tea over to him she then, to Jose's surprise, got in the bed with him and wrapped her arms around him. "Henrietta?" he began to ask. "Relax Jose, Triela says that rest and hugs help if you're stressed out, so let's try both at the same time." she said. Jose felt a little odd at first, but they were a team, both in and out of combat, all she had was him, and all he had was her. So he decided not to argue with her. Before Jose knew it, her soft eyes were closed and she was asleep, her brunette hair clung to his pillow and she was clung to his side. She was really warm he thought. "What a difference in this and the Henrietta I seen in the dream" Jose thought. But that dream was in the past and that's where it needed to stay, this is now and this is reality, plus Jose was exhausted himself, so he decided to do like she did, close his eyes and enjoy a little late morning riposo (rest).

Agents note: Thank you for your time! I hope you've enjoyed! Much more of this to come!


	6. Gioia

Chapter 6: Gioia (Joy)

Jose woke up from his much needed rest, especially after considering what he went through the night before, and just as he remembered, there she was, Henrietta, still sleeping away, except instead of her being by his side, she was partially on top of him.

"Who knew she had this much of a caring side to her." Jose thought to himself, he admired it very much though. He laid for a little while but didn't make any sudden moves because he didn't want to wake her. So instead he just listened to her soft breathing as she slept. Jose began to wonder of a way he could make her even more comfortable, so he decided to gently play with her brunette bed head. Jose was also glad to see that she was smiling as she slept, just as she would always do whenever she was with him, knowing he brought that much joy to her meant everything to him.

After a little while longer, she began to gently stir awake. Her first words was "Jose, are you feeling better?" She was always thinking of him, and he liked that. "Yes I am, thank you for this Henrietta" Jose never realized how beneficial some affection could be, even in this line of work. "Of course Jose, and to be honest, I believe this helped me a little as well, we should do this more often." She said. Jose agreed with her, and then began to wonder how they would get by with this time to time, he knew Triela wouldn't say anything, but still, he wondered how others would react. "Yes Henrietta I agree, but we must keep it a secret though" Jose said to her. Henrietta agreed "yes of course". Jose then told her "Well, I guess we should get up."

As she rolled off of him and got up from the bed, Jose then did the same. "Would you like some tea?" he asked her, he knew she would say yes because she loved when he made tea. As he poured her and himself a glass of tea, Jose then re-lit his candle and enjoyed his beverage as Henrietta did the same. After he finished his tea, he looked at the clock, 1:00 it read, he knew he desperately needed to get ready for the day as it was pretty much already half way over, although luckily for Jose, the 2 of them weren't scheduled for any field operations today, Jose just had some paperwork he had to do on his laptop, and if he remembered correctly Henrietta had some classes later as well.

He looked over at Henrietta, she was sipping on her tea, Jose took note of her soft drowsy eyes, "are you still tired?" Jose asked her "yes, I slept well last night, but I still am a bit tired, maybe it's our cuddling that has me tired." Henrietta said. That statement hit Jose in an odd way, not in a bad way though, actually in a good way. He and Henrietta cuddled, and in his bed at that. Maybe what Triela said was right, maybe Henrietta actually did love him, and maybe they would be good for each other. Jose then remembered what Dr. Bianchi once told him after Henrietta confessed to him during a medical review that she was obsessed with Jose's affection and attention "Be wise as a serpent, but innocent as a dove" and to also not think about it too much, so that's what Jose was going to do, just let things take its course.

"Jose? Are you alright?" Henrietta asked him, interrupting his deep train of thought, "Yes, I'm okay, even better since you're here" he responded. That made Henrietta blush madly. Jose took note of this, he then thought to himself "enough is enough, I'm going to give her the love she deserves" just as she craved his affection, he craved her satisfaction.

Jose then realized he was still in his pajamas, while Henrietta was in a button up short sleeve dress shirt and some light dress pants. Jose then asked her "Henrietta, would you like to help me pick out an outfit for the day?" "Of course, I would be delighted too" she said. They both approached Jose's walk-in closet, "Okay Henrietta, whatever you decide, I'll wear!" he said with a smile. She smiled back and went inside of the closet as Jose went to his restroom to wash his hair and fix it.

As Jose finished up the final touches of his hair, he walked out of his bathroom and seen Henrietta sitting in the chair at his desk waiting for him. "Okay Jose! What do you think of my selection for you?" she said. It was rather a cozy outfit selection Jose thought. A green hoodie, khaki pants and his brown chukka boot dress shoes. "I like it!" He told her, which brought that sign of joy in her eyes he loved so much. Jose grabbed up the clothes, and then went to his bathroom to put them on.

Once he returned in the outfit she picked for him she smiled, Jose took note of this. "So, Henrietta likes fashion and clothes, if it makes her this happy, I may let her pick my outfits from time to time." Jose thought to himself. Jose then put on his dress shoes, and then put on his Giorgio Armani Code cologne.

"When are your classes for today Henrietta?" asked Jose. "3 o'clock" said Henrietta. Jose looked at his watch, "Henrietta! It's 8 minutes till 3, we need to get you there on time, let's go." Jose said. They then both rushed out the door.

As they made their way to the class room, Jose realized they were 1 minute late. The class had not begun yet, and due to Jose's luck Jean wasn't teaching, Hillshire was, and thankfully Hillshire wouldn't lecture the 2 for being late like Jean would.

"Hillshire, sorry we're a minute late, it's my fault, I was spending time with her and wasn't paying attention to the time." Jose said. Hillshire responded with a calm and reassuring "It's okay Jose, I'm not like Jean, I support the fact you and Henrietta are so close" Jose was glad Hillshire was an understanding individual, because like Jose and Henrietta, Hillshire and Triela were close too. Jose then told Henrietta "Henrietta, have a great class, and make sure you pay close attention, when the session is over I'd like for you to come by the dorm and tell me about what you've learned." Henrietta responded with "Yes sir, I'll be over right after class." Jose was suddenly hit with a dilemma, should he hug Henrietta? What if Hillshire seen it? What if Rico, Angelica or Claes seen it? How would they all react. Jose then had a plan, he'd make it up to her later. "Sounds good, I'll see you soon" Jose said as he headed out the door.

As Jose got back to his dorm, he knew he had work to do. He needed to type up his evidence report for the shooting scene he and Henrietta were at the other day. As he sat down at his desk he turned on his laptop. He opened up his Word app, and gave the page a title, date, location, field team on scene, time they were there and the weather. After giving the report a proper labeling and opening description, he then proceeded to type up the information in regards of the evidence found on scene. He typed things such as the amount of bullets fired, the fact it was 9 millimeter bullets which was very common, the fact that the shell casings had partial bits of fingerprints on them and that the local authorities would provide the agency the information in regards as to who they think the prints belonged too, the believed direction the bullets were fired from, no eye witnesses etc.

After 2 hours of consistent typing, Jose finally finished up the report, he then emailed it to Jean. He looked at his watch, the classes Hillshire taught were usually 3 to 3 ½ hours long, Jose began to feel pity for the girls as they must be extremely bored, although in this situation, the lengthy time allowed Jose to be able to have time to prep for Henrietta's return.

He looked through his cabinets in his very, very small dorm kitchen. 'Yes!' he said to himself as he pulled out a bag of alfredo pasta mix. He then pulled out a pot for it and grabbed some milk from his refrigerator and poured some milk and water in the pot and then added the mix to the heated liquids along with 2 tea spoons of butter. Jose then began to wonder what would be a good side item with the alfredo. After a few moments thinking and looking through his cabinet, he remembered he had some garlic bread rolls in his freezer he could heat up. He got them out and had a few heating up as he began to gently stir the alfredo in the pot.

As he stirred he began to wonder what else he could do to make her night a little more special. After the pasta finished cooking and the bread was finished, he left the bread in the oven and the pasta on the stove with the temp almost set on high so it would be warm enough so the sauce wouldn't become sticky. He began to make the tea, time was running out so he made a pitcher full of tea using his coffee maker, he added 2 cups of sugar to the gallon because he knew Henrietta liked her tea pretty sweet because she felt as if she could taste it better. As he finished up the tea, he laid out 2 plates with silverware and napkins on the small table in his dorm, he then lit the candle in his room.

*Knock, Knock, Knock* Jose suddenly heard, followed by her soft voice "Jose? It's me." He rushed over to the door and opened it and was met by her pleasant presence. "Come inside, you know you don't have to wait for me to say that." He told her, following it by that smile she loved so much. She blushed and made her way in, as Jose shut the door behind her she stood there in awestruck. "You cooked for me?!" she said, pleasantly pleased and grateful. "Absolutely" he said. "But before you have a seat…" Jose gave her a big hug. He then let go and told her "Now you can take your seat, I'll handle bringing the food out." Jose then brought her a bowl of alfredo, a garlic bread roll, and a glass of his fresh tea and he then did the same for himself.

As Jose sat down and they began their meal, he could tell by the look in her eyes she's never experienced something quite like this before. He was glad he could be the one to introduce her to such an experience. He patiently waited for her to take her first bite to see her reaction, as she took a bite of the pasta, she closed her eyes and grinned ear to ear, she never knew her Jose could cook so well. "How is it" Jose asked her, "Very good" she responded, "who taught you how to cook so well" she then asked. Jose responded, "my father taught me, it was very long ago though, I'm glad you're enjoying it" They both enjoyed their meal and sipped their teas. Henrietta finished her plate first, so she sat and watched her Jose finish his.

When they both finished their meals Jose took up the dishes and silverware and placed them in his sink to wash later. "So, how was class? I'd love to hear about what Hillshire has been teaching." Jose said. "Class was good, a little drawn out, but still good, this evening we learned about proper social manners." Henrietta said. "Really now? I'm guessing you had no trouble with that subject." Jose said. "You're correct, I didn't, you would've been proud." Henrietta said. "I'm sure I would've been, you always make me proud" Jose told her. "This tea is great" Henrietta said, "I'm glad you like it, I'm going to let you take the pitcher back to your dorm so you can have some more later tonight if you'd like, make sure to share with the others." Jose said to her. "Only if you say so" Henrietta said.

Jose started to notice how Henrietta's soft eyes began to look heavy, he looked at his watch, 9:59pm is said. "Henrietta, it's right at 10, you may want to get some rest for the night. Want me to walk you to your room?" Jose asked her. "I would like that, but it's a far walk for you, and it's already so late." said Henrietta said. "It's ok" Jose said, he then handed her the pitcher of tea to take back with her, he blew out his candle, and they made their way to the door.

As they opened the door and stepped out Triela was just passing by, "Hello to my favorite couple" Triela said to them, followed by her signature grin. This made Jose blush, and Henrietta cup her hands over her face. Triela laughed and then asked "So what're you 2 doing?" Jose then said "I was taking Henrietta back to the dorm because it is getting late." Triela responded with "That's where I was heading myself, Henrietta? Do you want to walk with me and save Jose the trip?" Henrietta said "Sure yes, it is a pretty decent walk, is that okay with you Jose if I go with her?" Jose said "Of course it's ok with me, make sure to get a good night's rest tonight Henrietta." "Yes sir, you do the same Jose, you looked tired this morning." said Henrietta. "I'll make sure to do so, enjoy your tea too" Jose said with a smile. "Absolutely" said Henrietta, she then added "Jose, thank you for tonight, it really meant a lot." Jose responded with "Anytime, Henrietta, hopefully there will be many more evenings like these. Triela maybe you could join us for a dinner one evening too if you'd like" Triela said "I'd enjoy that, thank you"

Jose then said "Goodnight Henrietta, sleep good, I'll see you in the morning." Henrietta responded "Goodnight Jose, you sleep good as well." Jose then gave Henrietta a big hug before her and Triela made their way to their dorm for the night. As they were hugging Jose noticed once again how warm Henrietta felt, he admired this, it made the hug feel even more special and loving. As they were hugging Jose caught a quick glimpse at Triela, he noticed that Triela was saying silently, so Jose could read her lips "kiss her! Kiss her!" Jose didn't know what to do, "should I?" he thought. He wondered how he would feel if he didn't. Would he guilt himself after? What if something happened and Henrietta didn't wake up in the morning. Time was running out, Jose then set his second guesses aside, and then did what he never would've thought he would ever do. He took Henrietta by her shoulders and kissed her on her cheek, then hugged her again. Henrietta let out a quick gasp, as she was not expecting this and Triela gave Jose a big thumbs up. They then broke the hug and Jose smiled at Henrietta as she looked at him while blushing. "Okay sweetie, let's go get some rest' Triela then said. They then made their way to their dorm as Jose stepped back inside of his and shut the door behind him.

As Jose was washing their dishes from earlier, his heart and mind raced as to if that was the right thing to do or not. After making peace with what he did, he then began to find it funny that here he was, an agent, with military background, highly trained to operate and keep cool in high stress and dangerous situations, but here he was, letting a simple kiss freak him out.

Once he finished the dishes, he put on his pj's and made his way over to his bed. He seen one small strand of Henrietta's hair on his pillow case, this made him think back to earlier when they were laying together. "That was so relaxing" Jose thought to himself. He made sure to set his alarm for 5:00 before he laid down, he didn't want to forget it again. He laid down and closed his eyes "You did good tonight" Jose thought to himself, and on that thought, he fell asleep for the night.


	7. Buongiorno

Chapter 7: Buongiorno (Good morning)

Jose woke up to the dreadful sound of his alarm clock on his cell phone going off, he wanted to hit the snooze button but he knew that would only make things worse because he would get comfortable again only to be stirred awake once more. As Jose rolled out of bed and stumbled his way over to his cellphone to turn off the alarm he tried to recall the events of last night. It was all a slight blur due to his current drowsiness. When he touched his cell phone screen to kill the alarm, the evening prior became all too clear.

"Did I… kiss Henrietta?" Jose thought, "No way I did that. I bet she'll hate me for doing so, that is so unprofessional of me, I should have never listened to Triela." Jose then made his way to his bathroom to do his morning routine.

As he finished his routine, he made his way to the fridge to get some tea that he had left for himself since he let Henrietta take the pitcher back to her dorm. As he was drinking the thought came over himself "I could have her reconditioned and she'll forget all about it, along with our bonding experiences and past adventures together. That would erase the mistake and I could maintain my professional side to her." Just then Jose began to cough, his stomach turned and it almost made him want to spit out his tea. "Why would I ever do such a thing? Why would I even think of that, get a grip. You did what you did and it'll only help things build between you and her" Jose thought. Just then he remembered the quote "wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove", he was thinking too much about this, he did what he did and everything was going to be okay.

Jose then made his way to his closet to pick out his wardrobe for the day, he decided to go with khaki pants and a blue long sleeve button up tucked in with the sleeves rolled to his elbows due to the hot weather out, he looked at his clock 5:45. "Our morning meeting will be starting soon" he thought.

To pass the time Jose decided to do a check on the weather forecast to see what was on its way. 93 being the high and 68 being the low. "Just great, I'm already tired of this weather" Jose said to himself. Then he seen something he wasn't expecting, 90% chance of severe thunderstorms this evening and tonight. Jose thought back to that one severe storm that came last summer, the wind from it knocked the power out at the agency and he remembered how frightened Henrietta was. Hopefully it won't come to that this evening, but if it does, Jose had an idea, although it would be a bold move.

Jose then realized the time for the meeting was getting close for the meeting, so he shut down his laptop, put on his signature brown dress chukka boots and made his way to the conference room. As Jose entered the room and took his seat, the others made their way in and soon the meeting began.

*1 hour later*

"How are the girls going to react to this Hillshire?" Jose asked him, once the meeting was over and they were in a secluded place to discuss the current matters privately. "I'm not sure Jose" Hillshire responded. Jose then said "well, it is what it is, I mean, hopefully the evidence gathering will be done in 1 day and we can be back" Hillshire then responded "That's a nice thought, but who knows." During the meeting Jose and Hillshire were going to be working alongside one another to gather information on a crime scene, but due to the politically sensitive nature of the area the scene happened in, the 2 of the could only rely on each other and not be able to have the girls with them. "We'll discuss more about this once we find out when we'll be going" Jose said. Hillshire replied with "Sounds good, I've got some work to do in my dorm I need to attend too. Have a good one Jose" Jose responded with "Thanks Hillshire, you do the same."

Jose then began to head back to his dorm, he began to wonder when he should tell Henrietta about his and Hillshire's upcoming operation, after some brief mental debating, he decided he'd wait until it gets a little closer. When Jose got to his dorm, he opened the door, and was met by a sight he wasn't expecting, Henrietta was in his bed, sound asleep wrapped up in his blankets, her bedhead hair was clung to his pillows, she had a relaxed and innocent facial expression as she rested, and she was breathing heavy too. "This is adorable, but how long has she been here?" Jose thought to himself as he pulled out his cell phone to take a quick photo of her. He also began to wonder why was she here, was she missing him, did she not sleep well, was she still tired wanted somewhere quiet to lay down? Either way, Jose didn't mind, so he let her be and went and took a seat at his desk.

As Jose made his way to the chair at his desk, he noticed a hanger with some clothes laid on his couch, it was some of Henrietta's clothes, and as he realized that was her clothes, he looked back over at her a little more closely this time and just as he was beginning to expect, she had on one of his t-shirts and was sleeping in it. "Should I let this concern me? She's acting way more "close" than she ever has been before. No, this is okay, if this is what she wants, this will be what she gets." Jose thought to himself, and deep down, he was beginning to like this side of Henrietta himself.

Jose sat down in his chair and turned on his laptop and was beginning to look over his email. As the inbox updated, he received an email from Jean that had some information in regards of the group who has been responsible for the local crimes in the area Jose and Hillshire would be going to soon to aid in an investigation. "They seem to have a busy schedule" Jose thought to himself after looking at the amount of crimes they have been responsible for "I hope they all get what they deserve" Jose thought.

"Jose?" said a soft, innocent voice cut through the silence that was his dorm. He turned over to see Henrietta rolled over in his bed facing him, with his covers wrapped around her and her messy hair draped over his pillows. "Did you sleep well?" Jose asked her. "Yes, it's so peaceful in here" she replied. Jose then told her "Good, and always feel free to come whenever you like, that's why I gave you a key." Henrietta then hid her blushing cheeks under the covers, only revealing her eyes to him. Jose smiled at this, knowing she felt welcomed made him glad. She then told him "Jose? Come join me" and followed that statement with that smile he could never imagine saying no too. Jose then looked at his watch, 7:53 it said, "Okay sleeping beauty, but we shouldn't lay too long, or else we'll both fall asleep and miss breakfast, and you know I love the pancakes they serve here." Jose said, followed by a laugh.

He then got in bed with her, and before he could get situated, she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder, they both relaxed and closed their eyes. As they laid there Jose could feel her warm soft exhales of her breath against him, he then thought of a song verse in his mind "and when I can feel like, I can feel, once again, let me stay awhile, soak it in a while" and right now, Jose was soaking it all in, the comfort of the bed, the silence of the dorm, and there was one more thing added that made it all even more special, the love of Henrietta. Jose admired this, it had been so long since he felt love from someone else, and it being from Henrietta made it all the better, that's when Jose finally realized he loved her.

"Still awake sleepy head?" Henrietta asked him. "Yeah, barely though" he said. "Jose? I wish we could just lay here all day long, this is so nice" Henrietta said. "Yeah, it is" he said to her. As they laid there a little longer enjoying each other's company, Jose noticed her breathing pace changed to a more relaxed rate, he gently glanced down at her, and just as he expected, she was sound asleep once again. He took a few moments to watch her as she slept, her hair was scattered about on his pillows and on him, but he didn't mind. He began to run his hands through it. He began to think back to their adventures, both good and bad, and to how much she has grown, she was as tall as Jose's shoulders now. Jose never wanted to leave her side, he hoped with all of his heart that the doctors could find a solution to the short lifespan due to the conditioning. Jose put this thought aside, things would work out. He then felt her began to stir awake beside of him.

"I think you're the sleepy head amongst the 2 of us" Jose said, followed by a laugh. Henrietta blushed after hearing his words. Jose then said "Well, as bad as I hate to say it, breakfast will be served soon, so we probably need to get up" Jose said. "Okay, but before we do…" Henrietta said. Henrietta then got on top of Jose, and looked into his eyes. Jose didn't know what she was about to do. She then leaned down and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Jose just laid speechless, he wasn't expecting that. "That was for last night" said Henrietta, then she laid down on top of him and snuggled him once more. "Five more minutes please?" asked Henrietta. "Sure" said Jose.

"I could really get used to this" Jose thought.

Agent's note: Thanks again for reading, much more to come!


	8. Affetto

Chapter 8: Affetto (Affection)

"See? I told you pancakes were delicious" Jose told Henrietta "Yes, they really are" she replied back to him. Jose smiled at her response. They decided to bring their breakfast back to his dorm so they could enjoy their meal while enjoying each-others company. As they ate, Jose began to think back to Henrietta's little surprise to him, that kiss. He wasn't at all expecting such a move from her. He began to wonder if her making her own decisions, especially in an affectionate manner, was okay, or was it something he should concern himself with. The other handlers would more than likely increase the conditioning of their cyborg further if they did such a thing, but to Jose, Henrietta wasn't "his cyborg", she was Henrietta, his Henrietta, and if this is what she wants, Jose was not going to stop her.

"I really enjoyed the breakfast" said Henrietta. "I did too" Jose responded, Jose then made his was to his desk chair and turned on his laptop, as he did this, Henrietta made her way to his bed and sat in it. "Henrietta? What made you decide to wear that particular shirt of mine to sleep in?" Jose asked her. Henrietta then responded with "I chose that one because that's the one you were sleeping in yesterday, it made me feel close to you." Jose then turned his head away, hiding his grin, he never thought of that being the reason she picked that shirt. "What's the weather supposed to be like today?" she asked him. "Very hot, and Henrietta, they're calling for some major thunderstorms this evening and tonight, so you might want to try and get to sleep before they get here." Jose said. The thought of this made Henrietta anxious, hopefully they wouldn't be like that one very bad one they had, Triela and the others never seemed to get scared of the storms, only she did, and she could never seem to conquer her fear of them. "Okay, sounds like a good idea" she said, although not fooling Jose, he could hear the anxiety in her tone of voice. "I have an even better idea" Jose said. "How about this, if the storms get bad, you can come here and have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch, how does that sound?" Jose told her. "That would make things a lot more bearable" she said. "Let's plan on that then." Jose said, bringing comfort to Henrietta, making her smile.

As Jose was on his laptop, he scrolled over to the document that contained some information that was collected in the past about the criminal group he and Hillshire were tasked with gathering evidence on. Jose then noticed that Henrietta laid down in his bed, "I guess now would be a good time to read up on them" he thought to himself.

Jose then began to read, taking in every word and making sure to not miss anything in the text. "Busy guys" Jose thought to himself, after reading the amount of crime they were involved in within the past 6 months. Most of the crimes were either property crimes, or assault. "They seem to operate in a manner of brute force" Jose thought to himself.

"Are we going on a mission soon?" Henrietta asked him, he was not at all aware of her looking to see what he was reading, or else he would've closed the document in order to not raise her suspicion. "uh, well um…" Jose tried to respond, he didn't want to lie to his precious Henrietta, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings and put her into a distressed state of thought, she always had trouble managing her emotions. "Well? Are we?" she asked him. "Henrietta, we aren't, well I am, along with Hillshire, but it'll be just he and I. I'm sorry…" Jose said. Henrietta just looked at him, and her look broke his heart, the gaze in her soft eyes shook him to the bone, he felt guilt overcome him. She then just looked down at his blankets that she had wrapped around herself, she felt abandoned, no longer useful, "does jose not want me around anymore? Does he not feel safe around me?" she began to wonder.

Before she could worry anymore, Jose knew he had to do something, here she was, his Henrietta, her gentle mind was distressed. Jose walked over to her, grabbed both of her hands and looked her in her eyes, "Henrietta, we aren't sure yet when we'll be leaving, and Triela isn't getting to go either, it's mainly because where this is taking place, it would raise suspicion if others seen you 2 there, plus Triela will be here for you, you 2 will have a chance to bond some more. When we get back, I'll make sure to work twice as hard on my paperwork and reports, that way we can go out and have a day to ourselves, just you and I. How does that sound…my love?"

*Gasp*

Henrietta took her hands out of Jose's. She then leaned back against the pillow, "Jose um," she said. "Your heard me correctly" Jose then said. As she was laying down, her cheeks were flushed red, this is what she has waited for for so long. Jose then tossed her the shirt she was wearing earlier that was his to sleep in, "Get comfortable, let's lay a little while" he told her. Jose then made his way over to his bathroom to change into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt, he still felt bad about him going without her on that operation, he had to make it up to her.

As he was changing, Henrietta then began to unbutton her dress shirt to put his shirt on she couldn't comprehend what he said to her, she couldn't wait to tell Triela, she sneaked her way over to get Jose's Giorgio Armani code cologne to spray her shirt with, the smell of it always reminded her of him. As Jose came out of the bathroom with his pajamas on he seen Henrietta laying in his bed, all covered up, with her hair scattered on his pillows, "this looks very welcoming" Jose thought to himself. "vieni con me, amante." (come join me, lover) Henrietta said to him followed by a wink. Her statement gave Jose goosebumps; he was concerned that he may be fixing to see a side of her he wasn't expecting. He smiled and went to lay with her, as he laid with her, her mind was racing with thoughts, she was going to lay with him as they had planned on…but she wanted to do even more. She wanted to be good to Jose, he treated her so well so she wanted to give him something in return.

As Jose laid with her, he paid close attention to her actions, with her bold statement in Italian, and her wink, Jose was being cautious, he felt like the one who wasn't in control, and that she was. Henrietta then pulled the blankets over the 2 of them so they could be comfortable as they laid with each other, Jose then asked her "so how are things in the dorm?" Henrietta responded with "Things are well, I'm always the last one awake" Jose then asked her "Why's that? Grabbing some extra rest can only benefit you" "Well, I usually do most of my writing when everyone else is asleep, the silence helps me be able to focus." she said. "Well, I can't disagree with you on that, I'll probably have to stay up late myself these next few nights to stay ahead on my work." he told her. Jose began to think about his upcoming operation with Hillshire, he wondered the danger level, and thought about maybe requesting Pharaoh to go so she could watch their backs. "What time is it Jose?" Henrietta asked him, he glanced down at his watch "my watch says 11:58." Jose said. Henrietta then remembered that Triela was wanting all of the girls to help in organizing their dorm and to do laundry before the weather arrived later. "Jose, I just remembered, Triela wants me and the others to meet at the dorm around 12:15 to help in cleaning and getting the laundry done." she said. "Okay Henrietta, you don't want to be late, I enjoyed our time together this morning, thank you" Jose told her. She smiled and then hurried over to put her shirt back on before she left, and then hurriedly went out the door.

Henrietta hurriedly made her way to her dorm, when she walked inside she was greeted by Triela. "Hey sweetie" Triela said, followed by her signature smile. "Hello Triela" Henrietta said as she made her way to gather up her dirty clothes. "You smell good Henrietta, is that your boy's cologne?" Triela said teasing her, causing her to blush. "So…how's your morning been Hen?" asked Triela. "It's been well…..um Triela?" Henrietta said. "Yeah? You ok?" Triela asked. "Yeah, it's about Jose… he said something to me earlier." Henrietta said. "Oh no, did he fuss at you?" asked Triela. "No, not at all, um, I don't know if you know or not, but Jose and Hillshire have an operation coming up and we can't go" said Henrietta. "WHAT?" said Triela, already starting to become upset. "It's ok Triela, it's mainly for investigation purposes, no danger" said Henrietta. "I see… I'm still going to have a word with Hillshire though, but, back to Jose." said Triela. "Oh yes, right…when I heard about the operation, I won't lie, I became upset, I felt no longer useful, and I felt like Jose didn't want me no more, I know this isn't the case, but when it comes to Jose, you know I have trouble with my emotions, but when he could tell the situation really bothered me, he said something." Henrietta explained. "Well, Henrietta first off, you know Jose will never not want you around, you're like the only girl in his life, from what I've gathered by listening to him and Hillshire talk, he never was successful with dating or relationships. He had a girlfriend back in High School for a year but she cheated on him, I think her name was Shelby or something, but you know he will never abandon you, you have nothing to worry about, but what did he say? You have me eager to know now" said Triela. "Well, he called me his love" Henrietta explained. "HIS LOVE? Henrietta! This is so, so, so, good. Oh Goodness!" Triela said. Henrietta blushed heavily. "Do you think he meant it Triela?" Henrietta asked. "I believe so" Triela said. Henrietta smiled and her and Triela made their way to the laundry room to do laundry.

Jose was sipping some tea as he finally was able to actually study up on the criminal group that he and Hillshire were tasked with tracking. As he was reading he suddenly found himself at the end of the document. "That was pretty short compared to most of the documents they send me." Jose said to himself, but he was thankful for it, it gave him more time to reflect and review on his morning with Henrietta. He began to second guess his statement calling her his love, but he knew deep down he felt that way for her, but he wondered if her knowing this now how would it affect their social habits. When he came to lay with her, she spoke to him almost seductively and winked at him. Was there a side to Henrietta Jose hasn't seen yet? If she didn't have to go back and help with organizing the dorm would he have had his hands full with her? He pushed aside the thought for now and decided to focus on more the more normal and over all things about her. "She's been doing well with her job recently, she still wrestles with her emotions for me, but she'll pull through. Dr. Bianchi says her tests have been going well and she has had no need for further conditioning. I know, when I get back from the op Hillshire and I have, I'll take her shopping." Jose thought to himself. Jose opened up the weather forecast on his laptop, and just as he feared he seen that there was a guarantee for thunderstorms this evening. "If she gets scared, I'm going to make sure to be here for her" Jose thought.

Agents note: FORGIVE ME FOR THE DELAY AND THANK YOU FOR READING. My college has started and I've been writing a ton of reports. Don't worry though, there's still plenty, plenty more to come


	9. Dovere

Chapter 9: Dovere (Duty)

Jose really appreciated having his dorm back to his self, he loved having Henrietta with him, but this alone time allowed him to catch up on some of his work, plus with the storms coming tonight, he expected a visit from her.

Jose then began to decide on what he should get done first, being that his and Hillshire's assignment was with the police, and they were to keep a low profile to not stand out as agents, he decided he would carry the pistol he had when he was in the army, his Beretta 92S. Since he hadn't carried it in a while, he decided to give it a fresh cleaning. Jose got it out of his safe he had for a couple of his personal handguns and walked over to his desk with it.

As Jose laid the Beretta down on his desk, he pulled the magazine out and emptied the chamber so the gun was empty. He then stopped what he was doing and took a moment to just look at it. As he looked over the handgun, many past memories entered his mind. He remembered back when he first joined, he remembered how he found the battlefield peaceful, the comradery and friendship he had with his peers. But with all of the happy memories, came along not so happy memories, like the times he would drink excessively when he wasn't on the battlefield. The times he would smoke cigarettes, the times he lost some of his friends, the times he would spend many months away from his family. Family…he remembered them, now all that was left was Jean and himself. Family…he remembered how much they meant to him, and how he was thankful to have a handful of positive memories with them. Family…Henrietta, her family is no longer with her, they were taken from her, and as for her, she doesn't remember a thing about them, she couldn't even tell you her parents name. All she knew was Jose and the others in the agency. That was her family now, just as it was his. Through good and bad, he owned that handgun. He looked at the gun's scratches on it, each one telling a story, the time accidentally dropped it, the rounds he fired through it, the holster wear from carrying it. Even though he often carried his Five-Seven, or his Sig P239 like Henrietta's, or his Beretta 92 compact he received when he joined the agency, that classic full size Beretta 92 S has always been under his ownership.

Jose went and grabbed the gun cleaning kit from his shelf and returned to the empty firearm. He pressed the side button and rotated the take-down lever down and the slide gently unlocked from the handgun frame just as he remembered. He then proceeded to take the slide off, took off the spring, then the barrel, and then proceeded in cleaning and oiling the weapon.

Jose admired the clean firearm, he then proceeded to take a rag and wipe off the exterior of it, of course the scratches never seemed to fade, just as the memories never faded. Jose smiled at the similarity he just thought of. "Tragic lifestyle" Jose said to himself. Jose then loaded the gun back up and placed it back in his medium safe he had in his dorm.

There was still some things Jose needed to get done before calling it a night. He looked at his watch, Henrietta and the others were probably having dinner right now, Jose wasn't really hungry. He made his way to his closet and pulled out some extra blankets and placed them by his couch just in case if that's where he would be sleeping tonight.

He began to make his bed too, he wanted his room to be presentable, and welcoming to her if she came by. "The things I do for her" he thought, he stopped smoking due to her, he even quit his excessive drinking due to her. Everyone comes into your life for a reason, was her reason to save him from himself, or was his reason for her to give her a life after her family was murdered, or could it be that they saved each other from there selves, Jose's addictions due to his loneliness and Henrietta's suicidal wishes after the death of her family. Jose was glad that the conditioning made her forget that, it allowed her to move on easier. Fortunately for her, those memory scars were wiped away, unlike Jose's mental scars, like the scratches on his Beretta 92S.

Jose pushed this aside, there's nothing neither of them can do to change the past, but they could make a better future. Once he finished making the bed he began to fluff up all of the pillows he had on it, he walked over to his container of cologne that she loved so much and sprayed a dab of it on the pillow she usually used.

"Well, that's about all the preparation I can do I guess" Jose thought to himself. Jose then decided to lay on his couch for a bit and closed his eyes and he soon fell asleep for a few hours.

*knock knock knock*

Jose jarred awake after the sudden knocking, he looked at his watch and couldn't believe what he seen, his watch said 9:35pm. He figured that Henrietta and the other girls ate together at the chow hall. He stumbled his way over to his door and opened it, and to his surprise, no one was there. He assumed the knocking he heard was in his sleep rather than in reality. "Strange" Jose thought to himself. Jose still felt a little drowsy despite his rest, so he decided to put on his pajamas and go back to the couch for the night.

*Boom*

The thunder woke Jose up, he looked at his watch 11:56pm, he laid for a minute and listened to the rumbles of the severe storm and wondered how Henrietta was handling it, hopefully she was sound asleep. Jose rolled over and laid on his side to try and get more comfortable, and right then, his dorm phone rang. "Hello?" he answered. "Jose… I'm sorry for calling you so late, but the storm. The thunder bothers me. Can I come if that's ok?" said that familiar voice of Henriettas. "Of course, I'll come get you and you can come and rest here." said Jose. The storm sounded like it came to a pause for a bit, so now was the chance to go and bring her over. Jose slipped on his loafers with his pajamas and headed for their dorms.

He walked fast, *boom* more thunder, Jose broke out into a slight jog. This wasn't a matter of just a storm, it was her in distress, he had to get to her fast. He had to protect her, to rescue her, to be there for her. Once he got to the dorms he gently knocked on the door, Jose was wanting this to be on the down low, he knew Triela wouldn't say anything, but Rico might would to Jean, and that would only make matters worse.

Luckily Henrietta was listening for him and was ready, she opened the door quietly and sneaked out, Jose and her then made their way back to his room. As they were walking another rumble of thunder sounded off and startled Henrietta. "Not much further" said Jose. They then reached his dorm and they made their way inside the room. Jose let Henrietta in first and then he followed after her.

"This better Hen?" Jose asked her, "Yes, thank you for coming to get me, I'm so lucky to have you Jose, I don't think any of the others would come to get them." Henrietta said. "It's the least I can do for you, you do so much for me as it is." Jose said. "NO! Jose, you're the nicest person in the whole agency, you deserve all the kindness anyone can offer." Henrietta said. "Whatever you say sweetheart" Jose said, causing Henrietta to blush madly. His whole goal tonight was to take the fear of the thunderstorm away from her.

"I made the bed for you" said Jose, Henrietta smiled that warm smile of hers and made her way over to his bed to settle down in. She gently rolled down the covers and crawled in and covered up. "You look cozy" said Jose. Henrietta giggled, she pulled the covers up to where all he could see was her eyes so he couldn't see her blushing. Jose thought how ironic it was that here they were, agents in an agency, both with kills in their careers, more so Henrietta than Jose, but now here Jose was, inviting her to his dorm so she wouldn't be afraid of a nightly thunder storm. Jose asked her "Would you like something to drink?" but she declined his offer, she was too tired. "Okay Henrietta, if you need me I'll be over here on the couch." Jose said as he began to unravel the blanket to cover up with as he laid on the couch.

As Henrietta seen Jose beginning to get settled on the couch, she said to him "Um, No Signore Jose, you're sleeping with me tonight." as she said that she opened up the covers she had on her, making an opening for him to get in the bed. Jose made his way bedside and asked her "You sure, Henrietta?" "Of course, I want you with me" she then told him. Jose then crawled into his bed with her, and she wrapped the covers around him so they'd both be warm together.

She laid her head on his shoulder and told him "Jose…thank you" "What for?" Jose asked her. "Everything. Life in the agency would be so lonely without you" she then told him. Jose just wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to where her head was on his chest and said to her "Well Henrietta, my life in general would be lonely without you." Henrietta just smiled and closed her eyes, the storm was the last thing on her mind, they would hear the occasional rumble of thunder, but she knew that as long as she was with Jose, nothing could hurt her.

Jose began to close his eyes and give in to the urge to sleep, he was exhausted. Before he closed his eyes, he looked down and observed Henrietta, who's head was on his chest, arm wrapped around him, and her leg was over his. Her breathing slowed and she laid relaxed as she drifted to sleep. Jose closed his eyes and began to do the same.

As he closed his eyes, he felt movement, it was Henrietta, when he opened his eyes, his eyes widened as they were making eye-level, eye to eye contact, she just gazed into his eyes, as he did hers. Henrietta could see the past sadness in Jose's eyes, and even though there was much sadness in their life's, there was always hope. Jose could see the love in her eyes, even after all that she has been through, and all of the dirty things she's had to do in the agency, there was still a hope for love in her soft eyes, and a want for happiness and joy. Before Jose could look any further, she did what he never expected, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Jose pulled away as soon as it happened, it's not because he didn't want it, it's that it honestly shocked him, and he didn't know how to handle it. He was never involved in relationships once he graduated high school, he only focused on his work. But this, this was something new to him. "Jose…I'm sorry. Please don't hate me, I knew I should've never done that, I just, I don't know." she said, he just gazed into her eyes, and in her soft eyes tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Henrietta, you do not need to apologize. I apologize I pulled away, it just caught me off guard is all." Jose said, then smiled at her. Her tears stopped and she looked at him and said "Good, I was scared I may have done something wrong, may we try again, signore?" "Yes, let's do this again" Jose said.

Henrietta leaned in and kissed him again, Jose this time allowed it to happen, and he enjoyed it. When she backed away, he wiped away her left over tears off of her cheeks and said to her "Henrietta, we must keep this a secret. No one is to know, not even Rico or Triela, understand?" "Yes, I understand" Henrietta said. "Okay" said Jose. Jose then looked at his watch, it read 2:35 am. "Okay Hen, let's get some rest." he said. "Okay Jose" Henrietta said.

Henrietta then laid her head on his chest and reached over and held one of Jose's hands, intertwining her fingers with is. Jose let her do what she wanted, after all he wanted her to be comfortable. Jose noticed her breathing became steady and soft, meaning she was asleep. After noticing this, Jose then took his free hand and held her even closer and then drifted asleep.

Agents note: Thanks for reading! As always, more to come


	10. Prova

Chapter 10: Prova (Evidence)

Jose opened his eyes, what he remembered being a dark room from last night was now a fairly lit room do to the morning sun coming up. He began to move to get up, only to feel himself being weighed down and warmed up by the innocent loving brunette that laid on top of him. She laid with her hand still clasped to his, her head over his heart, and her other hand laid just by his head. Jose just closed his eyes and smiled, he didn't want to disturb her while she slept. He began to get lost in his thoughts as he laid there, feeling her every breath against him, he enjoyed that she was in his life, she was the figure in his life that was missing, she was that special person he could care for and love. Jose knew deep down he was a ruthless, counter terrorist agent, and that the things he had to do in his job would probably be considered as morally wrong in the average citizen's perspective, being so different made Jose feel lonely in his life, even more so when he lost his family, but now here she was, the rock he needed in his life to lean on and be reminded that even though their jobs in life were often morally conflicting, he can love and care for someone just as anyone else could. It showed him he was still human, and he was going to love and care for Henrietta as much as he possibly could.

He felt her hand grip his a little tighter than before, and her head slowly rotated to where she was facing him, and her soft eyes opened gently. She looking into his eyes and said to him "Jose? You're up earlier than you usually are, did you sleep ok?" "Yes I slept very well actually, and I believe it was thanks to you." Jose responded to her. This statement cause Henrietta to blush, she then smiled and planted a warm kiss on Jose's cheek.

"Jose, where's the phone? I need to call Triela so she knows where I am." Henrietta said. Jose pointed her to the phone, Henrietta then rolled out of bed and went to go get it and dialed the number for their dorm. She sat down on the couch and began to conversate with Triela. Jose himself began to roll out of bed and walked over to his laptop to check his email. He was hoping to find some information in regards as to when he and Hillshire would be going on their operation to aid in the investigation. Jose's hopes were fulfilled, although a little earlier than what he was wanting. "Today?!" Jose thought to himself, "The chief needs to let us know a little more ahead of time…. goodness" Jose was thinking.

"Is something wrong?" Henrietta asked him, catching him off guard. "Well, Henrietta, I'm sorry but, the chief has Hillshire and I tasked with leaving here to aid in the investigation this afternoon, and unfortunately it's 2 different scenes, one being in town and the other being in the mountain region near a farm." Jose said. "But, why so soon? Can it not wait a little longer?" Henrietta said. "It's probably became more urgent, resulting in the sudden tasking" Jose said. "You're probably right" Henrietta then said. Jose felt bad about leaving her, he walked over to her and took her by her hands "We'll make sure to stay in touch while I'm gone, and I'll be back before you know it." he told her. This made Henrietta feel re-assured, plus she knew this would give more time for her and Triela to spend time together. She thought of all the fun gossip they could talk about their handlers.

Jose noticed Henrietta's smile, which in turn made him feel more comfortable knowing that she understood the situation. He then made his way over to his closet to begin packing his things for the trip. "Wanna help me pack Hen?" He asked her, she nodded and smiled, then made her way over to him. Jose told her "okay Henrietta, a little test for you, since we usually operate in urban environments, pick out my wardrobe along with foot wear for the scene at the farm area, keep in mind I'll probably be out there all day." Henrietta replied cheerfully "Challenge accepted, I'll have you ready for anything." This made Jose smile knowing that she had his back. Jose then told her "While you do that, I'll get my things ready for the first scene in town, along with some other stuff."

Jose began to get out some "plain clothes" outfits together first, he decided today going to the scene, he'd wear some nice jeans, a short sleeve dark blue polo, and his brown Italian loafer shoes. "This should work. Quick and easy to get in and out of for when I need to blend in with the local authorities." he thought to himself. He then got out his Italian carabinieri military police uniform and shoes out from his closet, he would wear this to blend with the authorities, he figured Jean would have them give Hillshire a set on site to blend in. For his evenings out, Jose packed a pair of khaki pants and a blue denim short sleeve button up shirt to wear, he then half way got ready for the day and then gathered his toiletries and electronics along with their chargers for the trip.

He then made his way to Henrietta to see if she packed an appropriate outdoor outfit. "Okay Hen, times up. Let's see what you have for me."

Jose was shocked, she had his Italian military vegetato camouflage uniform out, along with a pair of black combat boots along with his pair of snake boots, some black leather gloves and she had his tan and black Five-Seven pistol laid out beside of his boots, and a boonie hat that went with his camo uniform.

"I'm impressed Henrietta, great job! What made you decide on the snake boots, hat, and five-seven? I'm taking the Beretta already." He asked her, just curious to see what her reasons were. "Well, the snake boots are because it's summer, and I don't dare want you to get snake bit, the hat his to keep you from getting sunburned because we both are fair-skinned, the camo fatigues are because you don't want to get your nice clothes all dirty, and the pistol is because even though Berettas are great, you may need that extra range a five-seven can offer being in an open environment." Her response tickled Jose, she knew her weapons which impressed him, but at the same time her choices were because she was looking out for him, such as protection from a snake bite, or just a simple sunburn. He simply went and hugged her and told her good job again. "Okay Henrietta, since you made such a great selection and backed it with proper reasoning, I have a reward for you." Jose said, causing her to smile. "While I'm gone, take this with you to the dorms, this is yours for the next 48 hours." His gift meant so much to her and she was all so happy to receive it, it was his pillow he used to sleep with, and this meant she got to take it back to her dorm with her and use it. This made her so excited, she took it from him and gave him a hug to show her appreciation.

Jose finished bagging up his things for this brief trip, he checked his watch, 13:00 (1:00 p.m.) it said. The phone began to ring, Jose answered it this time, as he answered the familiar voice of Hillshire's came through the phone.

"You ready Jose? We can get there a little early and have time to get a nice hotel room for the night." Hillshire said. "True, I'll meet you at the check in area in a few." Jose said and then hung the phone up after Hillshire acknowledged.

"Henrietta, I must go now, Hillshire will be waiting and we should probably go ahead and go" Jose said. "Okay Jose, just promise me something." Henrietta said. "Yes?" Jose said. "Come back to me, and do so safely, I don't want anything to happen to you, not even a sunburn. Okay?" she said. "I promise I'll come back in one-piece sweetie" he said, causing Henrietta to blush. Jose grabbed his suitcase and bag, and Henrietta grabbed the pillow and they made their way to the door.

"Henrietta, addio, for now, I'll hurry back" Jose said "Addio Jose, be safe, I'll be here waiting for you" Henrietta said. They hugged and she made her way back to the dorms as Jose made sure his dorm room was locked, and the he made his way for the check-in area to meet up with Hillshire.

"About time Jose" Hillshire said with a laugh, giving his friend a hard time. "Yeah yeah, let's roll" Jose said. They then did their paperwork stating their reason for leaving and being gone overnight. Then they headed out to the parking lot to the Nissan Xterra the agency was letting them use for the operation, they were thankful because it offered all of the room they'd need for their stuff. Jose hopped in the driver seat, it reminded him a lot of his first car, being it was a Nissan Xterra that he used a lot to travel when he was in service. They then began their way to the first scene that they were requested at.

"Did you tell Triela bye?" Jose asked Hillshire. "I did, but it was very brief, I called the dorms phone and told her I was leaving and it might be a day or 2 before I'm back. Did you wish Henrietta farewell until we get back?" Hillshire said. "Yeah, but we were spending time together when I had to suddenly start packing." Jose said. "How'd she react?" Hillshire asked. "It really bothered her because of her not going with us, I felt bad about it too" Jose said. "Well, you and her share a special bond, it's way more of a meaningful bond than what we share with our girls, Triela and I've gotten closer through the past few years, Jean and Rico somewhat get along, but you and Henrietta are more than just handler and cyborg, more than just fratello, you're basically the "couple" team out of the teams, meaning while we are all just really close and share a close bond with our cyborgs, you and Henrietta are an actual couple." Hillshire clarified. Jose tried to hide his smile. "It's not that noticeable is it?" questioned Jose. "Of course it is, everyone sees it, even Ferro talks about it." Hillshire said. "Wow" was all Jose could say.

They continued driving for a bit, cruising along, making good time to get to their destination. "So, Hillshire…" Jose said "Yeah? What's up?" Hillshire replied. "Does Triela ever talk to you about mine and Henrietta's relationship? You said everyone knows, so I figured she probably does too, I wonder what it's like in their eyes and perspective." Jose said. "Well, as you probably know, Henrietta and Triela have bonded pretty well recently, especially after the unfortunate loss of Beatrice a few months back. It's actually surprising as to how normal they think about it, like their opinion. Triela is supportive of Henrietta about it, she thinks you're a great guy for her and wants you to be good to her, just like any normal girls would want for their friend." Hillshire said. "I see" said Jose. Hillshire then asked Jose "So when we get here, I'm supposed to have a Carabinieri uniform waiting for me right?" Hillshire asked. "Yeah, as far as I know." Jose said. "Ok good." Hillshire replied. Jose then asked Hillshire, bringing back up the subject, "So, Hillshire, what's your thoughts? Do you think I'm a good fit for Henrietta? My only real relationship was back in high school, but it didn't last long, and since then I haven't really been with anyone. I try to be good to her and good for her, but sometimes it's hard to be good to someone when all you know how to do in life is to eliminate terrorist threats and other threats to society. I don't know." Jose said. "Jose, you're putting too much thought into it, I understand that with our lifestyles it's hard to find humbleness and caring emotions inside of us, but rather than it being hard for us to love another person, it's more so of us finding the right person to love, someone who is like you. For example, your high school relationship probably didn't work not because you didn't know how to love her properly, it's because she wasn't the right person for you, she probably had different plans in her life, probably something more common like others in our society, there really aren't many of those out there like us, but here you have Henrietta, one of us, those who carry weapons everyday of their life. You're all she has, and she's just like you, and one who can actually understand you in ways a normal everyday person cannot, Henrietta is the right person because she is one of the few who are like us, or in this case, like you. So basically what I'm saying, is that it's best that you've waited like you have, waited for the right one, Henrietta is the right one for you, and you need to give her the love that you've kept inside all of these years. Hillshire explained. "I see, thank you Hillshire, you're a good man." Jose said. "Anytime Jose. I owe you advice after all of the times I needed help at first bonding with Triela." Hillshire said, following by a laugh from both of them.

After a little while of driving, they finally arrived at the scene, just as other authorities were coming on the scene. "Okay Hillshire, we'll park over there with them, and get our uniforms on, the patrol leader has your uniform waiting." Jose said as he drove them over to where the Carabinieri officers were parking.

Hillshire hopped out and immediately set out to retrieve the uniform, while Jose quickly stepped over into a nearby ally way and put his on while putting his other clothes in his day bag to put back on later. After a few moments passed, Jose went back to the Xterra SUV and put his day bag along with his clothes in the back, Hillshire came along and did the same. They then headed over to the group of Carabinieri officers and walked along side of them to the scene to begin the investigation.

As Jose, Hillshire and the other officers looked over things, they could tell it was 2 shooters, one with a 9mm handgun, and the other with a 9x18 handgun, meaning the weapon that fired the 9x18 handgun was probably a Makarov handgun. After collecting the spent brass on site, they could tell several rounds were fired, those 2 calibers were all that was found, no shotgun or rifle ammo was on the scene.

After a little while of standing around, Jose began to feel excessively hot as the hot sun shined down upon him. "I'm ready for this to be over with" he was thinking to himself.

The investigation overall lasted about 3 hours, followed by another hour for the head Carabinieri officers to write a report for themselves and for the Agency. Jose and Hillshire were standing by a building wall that did provide some shade earlier, now being replaced with sun. Eventually one of the officers came over and handed them a packet that was for them to take back to the agency, upon retrieval of the packet, Jose bidded farewell to the officer, as Jose and Hillshire got their bags and went their separate ways to change back into their regular clothes.

Jose tossed his bag in the Xterra and got in the driver seat and waited for Hillshire while he was returning the uniform. Hillshire himself tossed his bag inside and climbed in the passenger seat. As they drove off from the scene, Hillshire began to search for hotels they could stay at for the night, and just to his luck, he found one and called to get their room reserved.

After a quick salad for dinner, Jose drove them to the hotel where they'd stay the night at. Upon their arrival they both unloaded their things and made their way inside to the front desk.

Hillshire spoke to the employee behind the counter "Hi, yes I called for a room earlier, ok sounds good" He then handed the employee the agency handler expense card for them to swipe and pay for their stay. "Thanks" Hillshire said as they made their way up to the room.

Once they made their way inside, Jose immediately made his way over to the bed he'd be sleeping in and dove in it followed by a huge sigh of relief. "Ugh, it's been a day, plus the heat isn't helping" he said. "I agree" said Hillshire. "Well, one day down, tomorrow to go, and then we'll be back at the agency." Jose said. They both began to unpack their things, Jose unpacked his laptop and his phone charger as Hillshire was unpacking some of his clothes to go and get changed into. Hillshire made his way over to the rest room to get changed into his pajamas, while he was in there, Jose took the opportunity to get changed into his own too.

As they finished unpacking, Hillshire began to surf the TV channels to try and find something interesting to watch, but unfortunately he had no luck. Jose began to check his email to see if he had anything come from the chief or from his brother Jean. Luckily for him, no one has reached out, meaning that they might be able to enjoy a relaxed evening.

"Jose?" Hillshire said. "Yeah?" Jose responded. Hillshire then said "I'm worried; it feels weird to not be around Triela for most of the day. Like, I'm used to looking beside me or behind me and her being there. Just the absence of her presence is troubling it seems." Jose responded with "I see, and yes it is a little odd for them to not be alongside of us, but look on the bright side, Henrietta and Triela will get to spend some time together, maybe they can learn to lean on each other for support in case of a situation like this where we have to go on an operation without them." "Good point Jose" Hillshire said. "And if it would make you feel better, maybe you should call Triela and talk to her for a bit. Hearing her voice may help you relax." Jose said. "Good idea, I think I'll do just that" Hillshire said. Hillshire then picked up his cell and dialed the dorm room number. Jose then laid back in his bed and closed his eyes for a bit.

Time passed by as Hillshire and Triela were talking, Jose decided when they got done speaking, he was going to call and talk to Henrietta for a bit, he wanted to hear from her and make sure she was alright. "Ok, well, have a good evening make sure to take your period meds for your cramps, you and the girls take care of each other, goodnight sweetheart" Hillshire then hung up. "Sweetheart? Interesting. Maybe those 2 aren't so different than Henrietta and I" Jose thought to himself.

Jose then grabbed his phone and dialed the dorm. After a few moments of ringing Triela picked up. "Hello?" Triela answered, he could tell that she wasn't at her best, those cramps must be taking their toll on her. "Hey T." Jose said. "Oh! Jose, let me get your other half for you" Triela said. Jose chuckled, he knew she was referring to Henrietta. Soon he heard Henrietta's loving voice, "Jose! How're you? I already miss you so much. she said. "I'm well, I'd be even better if I were with you" Jose said back to her followed by an innocent chuckle. "Well, you know we'll be together soon!" she said. "That's right, how has your evening been?" Jose asked her. "It's been good, class went well. Jean taught our class session tonight, and Claes made some cakes tonight and she, Triela, Rico, and I ate those and had some fresh tea a little bit ago." Henrietta said. "Sounds like a good time, I'm glad you're all having fun. Hillshire and I are going to get some sleep since it's getting kind of late, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. You make sure to get some rest too tonight. Sleep is very important" Jose said. "Yes sir" she replied softly. "Goodnight Henrietta" he said "Goodnight Jose" she replied, and then Jose hung the phone up. Jose then reached over and turned off the lamp by his bed. "Night Hillshire" Jose said, and with that he covered up and went to sleep.

Agent's note: As always, thank you for reading. Much more to come! My summer semester of college is ending next week which means I should be able to post even more frequently, which will present opportunities make the plot much more in depth now that I'll have more time to write about it. Much more to come, thanks again!


	11. Calore

Chapter 11 Calore (heat)

Jose woke to the beeping of Hillshire phone alarm. Jose looked over to the other bed to see Hillshire beginning to stir awake. "Hillshire? Why so early pal?" Jose asked him followed by a chuckle. Jose was not a morning person, and being awaken by an alarm at 4:30 wasn't his idea of an awakening timeframe. "Why not so early? No one knows how many days we have left on this earth, that's why it is good to enjoy every moment we can, plus we have a busy day today." Hillshire said. "Fair point, I'm going to rest a few minutes longer though, bathroom is all yours." Jose said

About 30 minutes passed and Jose opened his eyes to see Hillshire putting on some outdoor boots, being that the scene they were going today was going to be in a rural environment. Jose then got up from the bed and went about his morning routine. Once he came back into the bedroom part of the room, he opened his suit case up to put on what he had Henrietta pack him for this part of the operation.

"Goodness Jose, got enough gear?" Hillshire said followed by a chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose so, Henrietta packed all of this." Jose said. "I see, makes sense now, all of the protection, your five-seven pistol just in case, the snake boots, wow…tactical goggles, vegetato camo fatigues, and even a boonie hat and sunscreen. Ha Ha Ha!" Hillshire teased. "Yeah yeah, keep laughing. I better wear this stuff, because even a slight sunburn she'll notice and be frustrated with me" Jose said. "And I thought we were the handlers, I'm just playing haha, you know it's because she wants you safe. Even from the simple things, it all ties back into how you and her make a good couple like I've always mentioned you know." Hillshire said. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's going to be hot, but she'll know if I don't use this stuff." Jose said. "That's true, they'll know for sure. She'll be looking for things such as sunburns or scrapes on you. I bet when we return, she'll do a full check on you" Hillshire said with a chuckle. "Probably…" Jose said smiling while closing his eyes to imagine that humorous scene.

Jose began to get geared up for the day, he put on the camo fatigues, he slipped on the bulky, heavy, but very protective snake boots, he put the Beretta 92s on his side, and tucked his Five Seven in an inside waist band holster at the back of his waist so it would be hidden. "Well Hillshire, go ahead and laugh. I feel weighed down by all of this" Jose said. "Well, at least we know your handler Henrietta will be pleased." Hillshire said, teasing Jose. "Very funny" Jose said sarcastically. They then finished packing their bags and headed for the second crime scene that they'd be helping with. It was already getting hot, and they had a long day ahead of them.

Jose was driving while Hillshire was navigating, they got to a long stretch of just a straight highway for about 13 miles. "Hillshire…" Jose said. "Yeah?" Hillshire replied. "Why is it that Triela didn't pack you a ton of safety stuff for your trip?" Jose asked. "Well, I never really gave her the opportunity to do so." Hillshire said. "I see, alright." Jose said. "What makes you curious" Hillshire asked. "Well, it's just that I sometimes feel that she worries too much over me, like I want her to be able to enjoy her day today without worrying over me since we aren't there." Jose said. "Yeah I see what you mean. Well, looks like we're here." Hillshire said.

Jose parked the vehicle and they both got out. Jose immediately noticed the high humidity and heat in the area, and with it being outdoors in a rural area, there was nothing to provide any shade. Jose reached for his boonie hat and put it on, the slightest bit of shade will go a long way out here. They met up with the man in charge of the investigation and spoke with him, he his self was in his camo fatigues and had a hat on to provide himself with some shade too. "How is it going?" Jose asked. "It's going well actually, we are already almost done with the investigation, turns out one of the criminals who aided in this turned himself in, which made things a lot simpler. I've actually got your stuff already prepared for you, here you go" said the man in charge, handing Jose the envelope. "That's great and thank you sir, this helps us a lot." Jose said, taking the envelope. Jose then turned and headed toward Hillshire to explain to him the good news. "Wait, so you're telling me that we can go ahead and leave?" Hillshire questioned, beginning to smile in relief. "That's right, let's go home." Jose said, and they began to head back to the vehicle. They climbed in the vehicle and cranked on the A/C. "Yes, I'm glad for the A/C. This heat is unbearable." Jose said. "Yeah, I agree to that" Hillshire said. Jose then pulled out of the scene and made way for the nearest highway.

Jose sped down the highway, ready to get back to the agency, ready to get back to his dorm, and most importantly, ready to get back to Henrietta. "You seem eager to get back to the agency Jose, she's not going anywhere, relax." Hillshire said. "Yeah but, I haven't seen her, I want to make sure she's alright being that we have been gone." Jose said. They had a little while to go before their return, and Jose was making his way as fast as he could.

Henrietta just finished making her bed, she admired how perfect it was, all of the blankets were laid evenly and her pillows fluffed and straightened. She then proceeded to straighten up her clothes and fold them to put them away. "Looking good!" said Triela. "Thank you" Henrietta said. "I admire how responsible you are Henrietta; I need to start taking time to straighten up some of my things as well" Triela said. "I wonder when Jose will be back?" Henrietta asked. "I'm not sure, but I know it'll be soon and he is going to be so excited to see you." Triela said. Henrietta blushed at the thought of his return. She felt odd Jose being away for a bit, it made her have to become more independent in dealing with her emotions and such.

As Henrietta was organizing her things, she thought as to how Jose often brought her things home when he would go on the occasional day trip for the agency. Although she wasn't expecting anything this time, being that they were so busy, she wondered as to what she could do for him, that way he would come home to something special. She began to ponder, she thought to herself about maybe cooking something? No, they probably ate on their way back. Then she had the perfect idea, she would go straighten up his room. "Triela, I have an idea, do you think Jose would like it if I cleaned up his room so when he came back it would be nice and neat?" Henrietta asked. "You know, that's a great idea!" Triela said. Henrietta begin to finish up her things she needed to do in her part of the dorm, such as finishing putting away her clothes, organizing her shoes and such. When she finished she made her way to Jose's room to begin cleaning.

She put in the key he gave her, and made her way in she hoped that the security team wasn't watching the cameras as she entered. She shut the door behind her and stood in place, scanning the room to see what could be done. Jose's room was usually tidy to some extent, but she noticed things that she usually didn't realize. He had quite a few dirty clothes in his bin, his shoes were scattered about in the bottom of his closet, his bed was a wreck, his pillows for his couch were laid around in the room, he had a few dishes to be done as well. Luckily Henrietta was in her cleaning attire, that being some shorts and a t shirt, because there quite a few things that needed to be done.

First thing on her to do list, the dishes. Henrietta made her way over to the sink and got the dirty dishes out and began to fill one tub of the 2 tubbed sink with soap and water while she would plan to use the second tub for rinsing them off. She began to notice that these were the dishes that they used for their last dinner together, she paused to think about that, how happy it made her, just being around him made her smile. She began to wash and rinse the bowls, glasses and silverware they used, as well as the pots Jose used to make the meal.

"He's going to be so thankful and happy, I can't wait for him to get home." Henrietta thought to herself, she loved to please Jose. Henrietta made quick work of the dishes, making sure they were all spotless. She began to move to the next step in preparing for Jose's return, his clothes. She gathered them up from his hamper, dress shirts, khaki pants, jeans, and a couple of t-shirts and undergarments and made her way for the laundry room her and the other cyborgs used.

Once she got to the laundry room she opened the door to find Rico and Triela inside, Rico was doing some laundry and Triela was walking with her socializing. Their conversation came to an abrupt halt once Henrietta came into the room with her handler's clothes. "Henrietta? Why do you have signore Jose's clothes?" Rico asked, confused. Henrietta blushed as she heard her friends question, she didn't answer right away due to her concentrating on loading up the 2nd washing machine in the room. Before Henrietta could get finished prepping the laundry, Triela answered Rico's curiosity. "Henrietta is preparing for Jose's return from the assignment he and Hillshire went on." "Oh, now I see, Henrietta that's so thoughtful of you." Rico said, causing Henrietta to blush as she pressed start to begin the wash cycle. Henrietta returned to Jose's room while the clothes were in the wash cycle, once she got back she began to straighten up the room itself. She started with straightening up his shoes in the bottom of the closet, she took his tennis shoes and put them to the side against the wall of his closet that way if he needed them in a hurry he could get to them, she put his military boots next to the shoes, and then continued down the line placing his other shoes and loafer dress shoes in the bottom of the closet. After a few moments of further organizing, she made her way back to the laundry room.

When Henrietta got there she noticed that Triela and Rico were now gone back to their dorms. The wash cycle was finished so now she began to put his clothes in the dryer to dry, once she had that done and started she headed back to his dorm to keep cleaning.

Upon her return to the dorm, she gathered up the pillows from the couch that were laid around and fluffed them and neatly placed them back where they belong. Henrietta saved making the bed for last, so she made her way back to the wash room to get his clothes out of the dryer, she gathered up the clothes and hurriedly made her way back, Jose may be back soon.

When she got back to the dorm, she pulled the blankets off the bed and laid the clothes out and began to fold them. She quickly ironed the dress shirts and hung them in his closet neatly, she folded his t-shirts and undershirts and put them away, then she began to iron and hang his dress pants in the closet.

Last but most certainly not least, she began to make his bed, she took the pillows off the bed and began to pull the sheets up from the floor and carefully laid them out on the bed. She made sure the sheets were laid out to where it was evenly distributed on the bed, she then began to get his blanket and laid it on the bed the same, making sure it was even, she then began to tuck the corners under the mattress so that the blankets stayed in place. Now came the comforter, she laid it across the bed and made sure it was even as well. She pulled the corners on each side to give it a pristine look. Henrietta then fluffed the pillows and laid them on top of the bed. She made sure the bed appeared welcoming and comfortable, she figured Jose would be tired after his trip.

Henrietta looked at the clock on Jose's wall, another hour or so before his return. She looked in his mirror, she looked a little rough, she had her cleaning clothes on, her hair wasn't fixed, being that she had some time before he gets back, she hurriedly made her way back to the dorm to get ready for his return, she wanted to looked presentable upon his arrival.

Agent's note: sorry for the delay, but thank you for reading. Much more to come! Expect an intense plot soon. Thanks again!


	12. Ritorno

Chapter 12: Ritorno (Return)

Henrietta made her way back to the girls' dorm. Triela was organizing her stuffed bears on their shelf. "Triela, Jose will be back soon and I'm not so sure as to what to wear for his return." Henrietta said. "Hmmm, well, how're you wanting to welcome him back? Dressed up and neat? Relaxed and welcoming? Dressed in a business manner and professional? We can figure something out." Triela said. "Well, being that he and Hillshire are coming back from a work trip, I'm thinking something more relaxed and not so professional." Henrietta said. "Okay, sounds like a plan, let's see what we have to select from."

Triela walked over to Henrietta as she opened her closet and they both looked inside at the apparel hanging up. Henrietta was looking through her dresses and skirts, "I think that may be a little to professional, what do you think?" Triela asked. "You're right" Henrietta said. Henrietta wasn't really used to dressing so relaxed, Jose taught her to always dress nice and neat, so this was a different thing for her. "How about this?" Triela said as she pulled out a gray long sleeve shirt. "I think that will be good, and it's not really thick so it won't get hot" Henrietta said. "Now, let's see what we can pair with it. Oh, how about these Hen?" Triela said as she pulled out a pair of casual looking jeans with dark blue denim. "Looks lovely! Thank you for your help Triela" Henrietta said. "Anytime, also, Henrietta? I know how you really like clothes, I've outgrown quite a few in my closet, and would like to know if you'd be interested in them." Triela offered. "Sure yes! Thank you." Henrietta said. "Okay great, if you don't mind, I'll go ahead and put them in your closet when I get the chance." Triela said. "I don't mind at all, thank you Triela" said Henrietta. "You're very welcome, I wonder what time they will be back?" Triela wondered. "I'm not real sure, after all of that cleaning I'm a bit tired though." Henrietta said. "So am I" Triela said.

Henrietta got changed into the gray long sleeve shirt and jeans, after she finished changing she let out a soft yawn. "I think I'm going to lay down for a bit" Henrietta said, as she laid on her bed, gently though so she wouldn't mess it up. "Don't mess your bed up Henrietta, want to lay on mine? I've got stuff I need to organize; you won't be in my way" Triela offered. "You sure?" Henrietta asked, it was a thoughtful offer. "Yeah, feel free to" Triela said. "Thank you Triela, you're so kind" Henrietta said as she laid on her friends bed. "Anytime" Triela said.

Triela knew the harsh reality of things though, she was not a nice person, none of them were, Henrietta would probably understand this realization to in due time. How can we be "nice" when all we do is go after and capture or outright kill criminals for the agency and the government. Although it is the bad people we hunt, if all we do is attack them, that basically makes us just as bad as they are. Triela often wondered what a normal life would be like, she did not choose this life, living in the shadows and doing dirty work, but she knew that if she had to live dirty so other citizens could live happily, then she was ok with that. She also wondered what drew those like Jose or Hillshire to this way of life, they had a choice, and they chose it. Was it because they wanted to make a difference? Or was it because there was a hidden evil inside of them. Triela would never want to hurt Henrietta's feelings, and Jose was an overall very nice and caring person, especially to Henrietta, but Triela noticed just once, one day she seen Jose at the range while Henrietta was in a class, and he was with Hillshire and Jean, Jose would shoot the target multiple times, much more than what was needed for it to be considered "dead", and then quickly reload, move to the next target, and repeat the process. Was there a dark side to Jose? One that lives off of vengeance and hate? Only to be shown in a combat situation? Jose usually kept his cool during operations, but that day at the range made her begin to wonder, maybe he was just having a bad day. "I'm putting too much thought into this" Triela thought to herself.

As Henrietta laid there, she closed her eyes and tried to relax, she was so excited for Jose's return. She began to wonder about what his reaction would be with his room being cleaned and straightened up. As she entertained herself with the thoughts of his reactions, she fell asleep.

"Hillshire how is traffic looking on the phone maps? Any wreck ahead that I need to take an alternate route in order to dodge?" Jose asked. "Yes, there's a 3 car pileup about 8 miles ahead of us, turn at the next right and we'll take some back roads, it'll be about 20 minutes longer, but we won't be sitting ducks in the road." Hillshire said. Jose then put on his right turn signal and applied the brakes, followed by a gentle turn to the right.

As they made their way down the road Jose began to feel tired, he didn't sleep well the night before and Hillshire's early alarm didn't help. Jose began to wonder what paperwork awaited him upon his return, and he thought of Henrietta. He was ready to see her. "Hillshire, are you excited to get back and see Triela?" Jose asked him. "I guess, it's just that I enjoy being away from her sometimes, it gives me time to myself, and with us being out here and her being back at the agency means that she is safe, I rather take the risks and not her...I would rather be the one who dies, and not her." Hillshire said. "Come on Hillshire, we aren't going to die. I do respect you wanting to take the risks and not her, but do understand that she is stronger than you. Her and Henrietta can take more hits and abuse, she can fight harder and shoot straighter than us, they are the cyborgs, they are our shields." Jose said. "Jose seriously? You're starting to sound like Jean, he doesn't care about Rico's health. He just wants her to be his weapon. I do not want you to become like Jean, especially with how attached Henrietta is to you. She would begin to question her worth. It would hurt her feelings, and don't you dare say they don't have feelings, especially feelings to us handlers." Hillshire said. "I know, and forgive me Hillshire, I care for Henrietta very much, although sometimes I say things negative about being a handler, I don't mean those negative things, I enjoy being a handler, it's just tiring sometimes." Jose said. "No worries Jose, I know what you mean." Hillshire said.

"Henrietta? Wake up sleepy head." Triela said. Henrietta slowly began to stir awake, she looked over at Triela. "Yes Triela?" Henrietta said. "You were talking in your sleep; I couldn't really make out what you were saying though." Triela said. "Oh goodness…" Henrietta said blushing, although she could not remember what she was dreaming about. "I'm really tired for some reason." Henrietta said. "I bet so, you looked like you were in a deep sleep, I'm sure you are after all of that prepping for Jose's return, I added the clothes I was talking about to your closet, would you like to take a look?" Triela asked. "Sure!" Henrietta said.

They both made their way over to Henrietta's closet. Triela opened the door and asked Henrietta "What do you think?" Henrietta stood there in awe, she didn't know what to say, she was so thankful for what Triela had done. "I love them Triela, thank you!" Henrietta said. "No worries, I thought about giving some to Rico too, but I doubt she'd wear them." Triela said. Henrietta's new outfits contained dress shirts, some white and some with color. Then there were dress pants, mostly black or gray, and then there was some vests and ties too to go along with the outfits. "The good thing with the vests is that it'll help even more with concealing your sig pistol, I usually used a shoulder holster, I'm sure Jose can get you one for your sig." Triela said. "I hope so, thank you again for the outfits Triela, I love them." Henrietta said. "Hillshire and Jose should be back anytime now." Triela said. "I know; I'm excited to see Jose." Henrietta said. Triela let out a small chuckle, she knew Henrietta was crazy about Jose. "I'm glad we got to spend time together Triela, I feel we have grown closer here recently, like Rico and I have in the past." Henrietta said. "Yes I am glad and agree as well, it is important we all get to know and spend time together, establishing a bond with one another will help us not only get along more but also make us more of an effective team." Triela said. "That is true Triela, I haven't talked much to Petra, being that she is new, I think I'll try to get to know her too." Henrietta said. "Good idea" Triela said. "Triela is there anything that I can help you with?" Henrietta asked. "Well not really, I do have some more clothes to fold though, but that's up to you if you want to help or not." Triela said. "I'll most certainly help if you don't mind!" Henrietta said. Triela laid out the clothes and they began folding them.

Jose watched his speedometer, carefully driving just a little over the speed limit but not enough to get himself pulled over. Although a lot of the carabinieri guys knew him or knew of the Croce case, he still wanted to maintain a low profile. He looked over to Hillshire who looked to be struggling to stay awake. "Hillshire, how much longer you think?" Jose asked him. "Not much longer, we'll probably get there right after dinner for everyone." Hillshire said. "Okay, that being the case do you want to stop somewhere and get a quick bite?" Jose asked. "Sure, how does a local fast food place sound, so we can stay on the move." Hillshire suggested. "Sounds good to me." Jose said.

Jose began to search the streets as they drove for any type of restaurant signs, suddenly they passed a McDonalds sign, Jose pulled into the parking lot. "Should we go in or do the drive through?" Jose asked Hillshire. "Let's just do the drive through." Hillshire suggested. "Okay" said Jose as he steered the Xterra to the drive through line. "What would you like? I'll buy." Jose said. "Hmmm, just a single cheeseburger and a small fry, something light." Hillshire said. "I think I'll have the same." Jose said "Thanks for buying Jose" Hillshire said. "Not a problem" replied Jose. Jose drove around to the drive through window after placing his order, paid the employee and then passed Hillshire the bag of food. Hillshire got out their meals while Jose drove and they both began eating.

Jose was glad to get a bite to eat, he was starving, them being so busy today they haven't had time to eat. "How much further Hillshire?" Jose asked. "About 15 minutes." he replied. Jose was glad to hear this, he was getting drowsy from all of the driving, and it was starting to get late.

After a few more miles traveling, he drove into the parking lot of the agency, he was so glad to be back, now he could rest and recover from his assignment.

He parked the Xterra in the agency transport vehicle garage. After parking and cutting off the engine he and Hillshire stepped out of the vehicle. They both unloaded their bags from the Nissan and made their way inside the agency building.

Jose was glad to be home.

Agents note: thanks for reading! Always more to come!


	13. Grato

Chapter 13: Grato (Grateful)

Jose and Hillshire made their way to the front doors. Hillshire held the door open for Jose being that he had his hands full. Jose walked inside the doors and made his way to the check in counter. Ferro was behind the counter filling in for one of her friends while they were getting them some drinks. "Jose…." Ferro said. "Ferro, hey there, how's it going?" Jose asked her. "It's not, I'm so bored." She said. "Ah, why are you running the front desk?" Jose asked her. "Well, I finished up my paper work for the evening early, I tried getting some rest but I wasn't able, so here I am, where have you and Hillshire been? She asked. "Well, we went to go and investigate 2 scenes, luckily the 2nd one got started early and they were finished up and had what we needed already ready for us to pick up." Jose said. "That's nice, it was a hot day today, see any action?" Ferro said "No, all was calm from what we could tell." Jose said. "That's good, you never know what may happen, and it always happens so fast." Ferro said. "Yeah, your right." Jose said. "Wait, where's your other half at Jose?" Ferro said. Jose knew who she was referencing too. "I'm not so sure, it's getting late so she's probably asleep." Jose said. "Uh, yeah right." Ferro said. "I'm sorry, what do you mean?" Jose asked. "Jose, you know how she is about you." Ferro said. "Yeah, but it's just late is all, I think she's probably asleep, either way, I don't want to disturb her." Jose said. "Well, if you go lie down for the night, do not be surprised by a sudden knock on the door if she finds out you and Hillshire made it back." Ferro said. "True, even if it is at 2am, I'll still welcome her in, even though I'm exhausted from the trip and the driving." Jose said as he swiped his I.D. card in the access scanner. "You and Jean are so different, anyways, have a good night, and welcome back." Ferro said as they made their way through the entrance room and down the hall. "Well Hillshire, we're back, back to our home." Jose said. "You make it sound so dreadful." Hillshire said. "Well, it is a stressful and shady line of work." Jose said. "Good point, well I'm going to go unpack, I'll probably see you sometime tomorrow, thanks for driving." Hillshire said. "No problem, see you later." Jose said.

Jose then made his way to his dorm, feeling his exhaustion take him over every step of the way. After the long walk through the halls he finally reached his room. Jose grabbed his key and inserted it into the door and made his way inside.

Upon his entry, he knew right away Henrietta had been here, and he was blown away by what he seen. She had come and cleaned the whole place up. The dishes had been done, the bed was made very caring and carefully, the pillows were all positioned properly, and she even washed his dirty clothes and put them in the closet and folded the rest of them and put them in his dresser. Jose couldn't believe it, he had to award her, he had to get her something special. He just hadn't decided yet as to what that special something will be yet; he would have to ponder on it.

Jose began to unpack his things, he first put his boots in the closet, began to pull out his clothes from his suit case and place them into the dirty clothes hamper. He then put his 5.7 and his issued Berretta into his personal gun safe and then began to prepare to go to sleep.

As he prepared to get some rest for the night he opened the drawer in the dresser that had his pajamas in it, he grabbed out a dark blue pair of pj pants and a white t shirt to sleep in. As Jose approached the bed he admired the carefulness he could tell she expressed while making the bed. Everything was perfect although Jose felt kind of bad that she went through the trouble of doing all of this. Jose reached the bed and laid the Sig P239 he had that was the same model of Henrietta's beside of him on the nightstand and laid down and covered himself up. He laid there still admiring the thought of her taking the time to do all of this for him, while lost in his thoughts of appreciation, he fell asleep.

Jose slowly woke up the next morning, for once he had slept well the night before. As he rolled over to look at his phone, he noticed the notification light was blinking. "Who could that be?" he thought to himself, he checked his watch, 8:30am, so it could be anyone. He was surprised that Henrietta hadn't already been knocking on the door, they must've stayed up late last night and slept in today. Jose slowly rolled and leaned off the edge of the bed and picked his phone up off of the floor beside of his charger. "That is strange" Jose said to himself. The message was from Alessandro, "Hey dude, contact me when you can, may have a special assignment coming up and could use another hand with it." the text read. Jose took mental note to get in contact with him at some point throughout the day but as of right now his main focus was going to go get Henrietta and thank her for cleaning up his dorm room during his operation with Hillshire.

Jose got up and began to get ready, he went to his restroom to fix his hair, then he began to pick out a wardrobe for his day out. It was slightly cool out and raining a bit, Jose was thankful for this, so he opted for a light hoodie and some khaki tactical pants to wear. He then proceeded over to his night stand to decide on what pistol he wanted to carry today, today he decided for his Beretta 92 compact, he didn't carry it often, but that being so he decided to take it out with him today. He then slipped on some light black boots to go with his khaki trousers, sprayed a dab of his Giorgio Armani Code cologne and made his way out the door to go get Henrietta from the dorm.

Upon waking down the hallway he ran into Hillshire. "Good morning Jose" Hillshire said. "Buongiorno, Hillshire" Jose returned, "Heading to go get Henrietta?" Hillshire asked. "Yeah, you talked to Triela yet?" Jose asked. "Not yet, they're all probably getting ready for the day." Hillshire said. "You're probably right." Jose said. "Hey, also Jose, I'm fixing to order Triela another style shotgun, the Benelli M4, and I was going to get some new sights for my Sig, would you like for me to order you and Henrietta a Sig P232 sl like mine and Trielas? The agency is buying." Hillshire asked. "You know, that would be great please if you don't mind, thank you." Jose said "Sure thing, I'll have them here as soon as possible with 3 mags, one for it and 2 backups." Hillshire said. "Excellent, thanks again." Jose said. "No worries, I'm heading to get some breakfast before everyone gets there, I've got some paperwork to do, I'll see you around" Hillshire said. "alright, see you later" Jose said and they both went on their way.

Jose made his way to the dorm, upon reaching it he gently knocked on the door, and as usual Triela opened it. "Hey Jose, Henrietta is just about finished getting ready, were you surprised about your room?" Triela asked "Yes, absolutely, and I was very grateful for it." Jose said. "Aw good, she's going to be so glad that you're back. Unfortunately, we have class all afternoon until this evening, but you guys can probably still get breakfast together." Triela said. "Jose?!" Henrietta said. "Yes, I'm back." Jose said. Henrietta came running to the door grabbed Jose's hand and they both began to head down the hall. "See you 2 later!" Triela called out.

"Jose there's not much time, I have class this afternoon" Henrietta said as they hastily went down the hallway. "Easy let's slow down. We'll get breakfast and go back to my room to hangout until your classes start." Jose said. "Okay sounds good." Henrietta said.

They made their way back to his room after getting a quick bite of breakfast. The menu today consisted of pancakes and bacon. Jose opened the door and they both walked into the dorm. "Henrietta, I am so appreciative of what you did, thank you so much." Jose said as he gave her a warm hug. She looked so welcoming as she always did. She was wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and a gray sweater and a gray hairband that matched it. "You liked it? I made sure to be extra precise with how I fixed things." Henrietta said. "Of course I do, I love it, it was such a good thing to come home to, that trip was exhausting." Jose said. "I bet so, hold still." Henrietta said. She looked at Jose's hands, no cuts or scrapes, she looked at his face and his neck, no sunburns. Good, her Jose was unscathed. "I made sure to follow the rules." Jose said with a chuckle behind it. "Good. I worry when we aren't together." Henrietta said. "There's no need to Hen, I'll be okay." Jose said "I know, but still, I worry." Henrietta said. Jose knew it was probably her conditioning that makes her so protective over him.

They sat down on the couch together and enjoyed each other's presence. Jose looked at Henrietta, her hair was slightly different, her bangs were trimmed a bit and her hair had been shaped up. "Who did your hair?" Jose asked her. "Triela did, I love it, she's so good at it." Henrietta said. "It looks good I like it. I need to get mine trimmed too." Jose said. Jose liked his thick hair and bangs in the front, but from time to time he would get it cut short, he felt that every time he cut it short it would always grow out neater the next time. Henrietta had never seen his hair shorter before, he wondered how she would react. "Hmmm, I think it would look good short too." Henrietta said.

"When do you need to go back and get ready for class?" Jose asked her. "I may go ahead and go, even though I don't want too, but it would help me if I went back and reviewed the lesson once more before we all go over it." Henrietta said. "Sounds like a good plan, let me walk you to your dorm." Jose said. He opened the door for her and they both made their way out the door.

Upon reaching the dorm room door Henrietta opened the door, but rather than walking inside she turned to face Jose and gave him a big hug. "I'm so grateful that you are back Signore Jose." she said. Jose returned the embrace, "I'm glad to be back, and glad to see you again." he told her. She finally released him and stepped inside the room while blushing and shut the door.

Jose made his way back to his room, once he went inside he pulled out his phone and dialed Alessandro. "Hey Jose, was beginning to wonder if you were going to call or not. What's up?" Alessandro said. "Not much, you wanted me to get in touch with you?" Jose said. "Yeah! I need help with something, okay so, Petra and I have been tracking down a few baddies here in town and I need some help spying on them, they noticed Petra the other day while we were out, so I need a second person to help me out and don't want them to see her twice, they may realize something is up." Alessandro said. "Okay, depending on when you're wanting to do this I may be able to help out." Jose said. "Okay sounds good, but Jose, I'm going to have to ask you to change up your look a bit, these guys have been doing this for a while and probably remember the Croce incident, meaning they'll probably remember your face." Alessandro said. "Well, I was planning on getting my hair cut a little short, so that should help." Jose said. Jose figured he'd ask him to change his look, being that Alessandro was never military, he was a covert operator from the get go, meaning maintaining a low profile and blending in was his specialty. "Yeah, that should help, if you're not busy, swing by my dorm when you can. "On my way." Jose said.

Agents note: Thanks for reading, more to come! Forgive me if my upload tempo has slowed a little, college is getting busy.


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